Eight Months Ago
by emilyreich
Summary: T/T- T'Pol has a mystery on her hands and Trip must try to protect her, while also trying to keep everything a secret; there is more than meets the eye here... FINALLY!!!! it's DONE!!!! chapter 37 (the final chapter) is up!! **COMPLETED**
1. Prologue

Title: Eight Months Ago  
  
Author: Emily and Becky  
  
E-Mail: AlterationsChic@attbi.com  
  
Archive: Sure... just tell us where  
  
Rating: PG, but with LITTLE spots that COULD be considered PG-13 if you're really picky  
  
Category: General/Humor/Romance/Drama  
  
Codes: T/T'P, A, S, R, Ph, M, Porthos, Several Vulcans (I can't tell you who without giving it away)  
  
Summary: I can't say much without giving it away, but basically, someone on the ship tells the story of love, loss, and loneliness.... well, sorta.... anyway, it's REALLY long, and we will type up the story a bit at a time... we will type a chapter per week until it's done, so keep coming and catch the whole thing....  
  
Author's Note: In the prologue, the character is going crazy, and is nearly insane, so I attempted to write it as if he was. If you think I did I bad job at that, then well, you can skip to Chapter One... reading the prologue is not necessary to understand the rest of the story...  
  
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AUTHOR'S NOTE #2--IMPORTANT (at least to me)  
  
THis poor fic had 89 reviews on it, and now it's down to one... could we at least TRY to get it back up to where it was.... aka... please R&R.... this is why i didn't want to make a new name cuz now people will look at this and think it's no good (only 1 review on 29 chapters)... so please R&R... not that i didn't want you to BEFORE....lol... just review!!!!  
  
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Disclaimer: Paramount owns everything..... well, not the story idea.... that one's ours..... I WISH I owned it, cuz then I'd have lots of money..... but, well, I don't  
  
  
  
  
  
Prologue  
  
"...under no conditions are you to spend any off-duty time together, or any on-duty time alone together. On away missions, you will each be paired with different crewmembers, and you may not leave the ship at the same time otherwise. Finally, you may not send any transmissions to each other unless I review them first and send them for you. Any violation of these orders without direct permission from me, I will personally send both of you to the brig while I wait for a ship to come get you. Is that understood?"  
  
The flashbacks were the worst. The Captain's words echoed inside his head as he remembered first the speech, then the rules, and finally the consequences. Then he remembered why this had all happened in the first place. Then he thought of how stupid he'd been. It hadn't even meant anything, at least not at the time. But then, how did the saying go... "You don't know what you have until it's gone", or something like that.  
  
Well, that saying was all too much the case, and all that he could think about. He tried to distract himself with work, games, movies, and even his favorite food. But nothing seemed to work. Something always reminded him of the Captain's orders, and of what he was now without.  
  
He just wished that he could talk to someone about this- about her, but no one knew what had happened. They thought that they did, but they really didn't. No one knew of the Captain's orders except the one person who he couldn't talk to.  
  
Instead, he had to relive that moment over and over; had heard the Captain's words so many times that there was no longer an echo, but simply a constant tone. A constant tone that couldn't be stopped. It was there with only one intention-- to torture him until he gave up and just forgot about her. But he refused. He fought back against the tone and refused to give in to the part of his brain which told him to forget it ever happened. And every time he fought it, it fought back, increasing its intensity just enough to make it necessary to fight harder. And then the cycle would continue until it nearly drove him over the edge. Then, having completed its short term cycle, it would surrender to his control and he could finally relax enough to go to sleep.  
  
But it wouldn't stop there. It seeped into his dreams, too. And he now not only heard, but also saw the memory as well. Again and again it would play-- first his stupid mistake; then the lecture, the rules, and the consequences; and finally, the agony of loneliness and memories being bottled up inside like a tiny ship that couldn't escape without breaking. It forced him to wake up and remember more.  
  
She was gone. He could never again spend another moment with her because she was gone forever. She could never be in his life again; could never brighten his day with her every word. She was truly gone. And because he had made a stupid decision, he hadn't even had the chance to say goodbye. He hadn't been allowed to.  
  
And now he was going he was going insane in the small part of the universe in which only his memories could torture him, and he could be alone. He sat in his room alone, never once leaving, never once making contact with another being. He sat alone, throwing things when he couldn't take it anymore; fighting the urge to simply end everything-- the torture, the suffering, the loneliness, and the sorrow.   
  
But he did fight it, for what would come of that? Would it really change anything? Most likely he would continue to relive the same memory until the universe itself came to an end.  
  
So instead he continued to suffer; continued to relive the same events. Many people had attempted to force him out of the cycle. "Just forget her," they would say. But they couldn't make him forget her. They would have to kill him first.  
  
But of course they didn't realize that. The continued to come. One of them had just arrived, in fact. The annoying beep from the door chime kept repeating over and over as someone tried to gain access to his room. Usually they left more quickly than this. But this person was persistent. They continued to add to his torture by pressing the chime. He considered what to do. He could break the controls so that no one could enter. Or he could just ignore the chime and let the person behind it push until their fingers were too numb to push anymore. Or he let them inside. But nothing would be accomplished. They would just try to force him out. They would not succeed, and it would have been a waste of time. But the chime would stop.  
  
Finally, he gave in. "Come in!" he yelled, angry at them for chiming so many times. The door opened and light flooded the dark room from the corridor beyond it. The person who been pushing the chime walked through the opening. They stopped once inside and the door closed behind them, making the room black once again.  
  
A silhouette appeared inside the room, but the face was too dark to see since there was no lighting. He grabbed a weapon from the floor near him and aimed it at the figure which was now standing just inside the door. "Who's there?" he yelled.  
  
"It's Travis, sir. Can I talk to you for a minute?" The voice was easily recognizable, and was indeed Travis Mayweather's.  
  
"What do you want?" he asked, knowing that the Ensign would no doubt attempt that which everyone else had attempted. But he wouldn't let him succeed, just as none of the others had succeeded.  
  
"I just want to talk to you... about what happened. I wasn't there, and no one else really knows the whole story. So I was hoping you could tell me... and get it off your chest at the same time."  
  
He wasn't prepared for this. He didn't know how to respond. No one had ever come in without intending to try to force him out. But Travis didn't act as the others had. They had come in forcefully, trying to act as if they had good intentions. But Travis seemed more sincere. He didn't even suggest leaving the room. He lowered his weapon slowly. Perhaps simply telling the story would relieve some of his pain and remove some portion of the agony. It would also give him someone to talk to... someone else who would know the whole story. He decided that he would tell Travis his story. "Where do you want me to start?" he asked.  
  
"The beginning would be nice," the Ensign replied.  
  
"All right. Have a seat, Ensign." He saw the figure move to a chair and sit down. As soon as he was satisfied that the young man was seated and listening, he brought up the correct memory in his mind. Then he began his tale. "Well it all started about eight months ago..." 


	2. Chapter 1

A/N: if this seems sorta cheesy and predictable at first, then well, you're right…. But I promise you it improves a lot over the next chapters (yeah, I already wrote most of it, I just don't feel like typing it all at once)... Anyway, enjoy for now, and yes, if you think something's gonna happen in this chapter, it probably will.... Also, I know that there are two VERY different styles of writing in this story, but that is because there were two people writing it, and, well, we write VERY differently.... So, enjoy...  
  
A/N2: also, we know how the events in this chapter came to be, so if you can figure it out, then well, you catch on fast.. But otherwise, we'll try to tell everyone at the end just what happened... also, I didn't reveal who the person going insane in the prologue was, but you WILL find out later... I promise. If you think you know now, email me with who you think it is, and I will tell you if you are right...  
  
  
Chapter One  
  
"T'Pol?" She heard through the darkness. "T'Pol?" The voice repeated. It was the Captain standing near her.   
  
T'Pol opened her eyes. She was in sickbay. She tried to speak, but all she could get out was a sound similar to a squeak.  
  
"Doctor?" She heard the Captain ask.  
  
"It will take a few minutes before she will be able to answer you. Her vocal cords were slightly damaged in the accident," Doctor Phlox informed him.  
  
"Wa…" T'Pol attempted.  
  
"T'Pol?" Prompted the Captain.  
  
"Eh…. Ow."  
  
"Pain? Are you in pain?" The Captain asked, seemingly quite concerned.  
  
"He…He…How?" She stammered, still lying motionless on the biobed.  
  
"You were on the bridge when you suddenly collapsed," the Captain explained.  
  
"What happen-" she couldn't continue. Her throat was in excruciating pain.  
  
"To your throat?" He asked, not surprised at the question.  
  
She only nodded.  
  
"When you passed out, we think you hit your neck on the edge of the console in front of you," the Captain replied. "I'm surprised you don't remember…"  
  
"Uh… with all due respect Captain, I would like to speak with T'Pol alone please," Doctor Phlox respectfully requested. "To explain to her why she fainted.  
  
"Alright Doctor," he replied. He did as had been requested and walked quietly out of the room.  
  
"Doctor?" T'Pol asked quietly. She noted that talking was no longer painful.  
  
"T'Pol, I'm not sure how to say this but… you're pregnant. That is why you fainted. The fetus apparently made you faint due to something that the humans refer to as 'morning sickness.'" He tried to continue talking, but T'Pol cut him off.  
  
"That is impossible," she stated blankly, sitting up in her bed.  
  
"Of course it's not. Just because humans and Vulcans haven't ever… procreated before doesn't make it impossible. " Phlox assured her.  
  
"You do not understand, Doctor." T'Pol continued. Then she suddenly seemed to take in what the Doctor had just told her. "It's human?" she asked in disgust.   
  
"Yes. I can also probably tell you who the father is if you are not already certain," he replied.  
  
"I am not certain. But… how is this possible?" She asked.  
  
"You know as well as I do how humans and Vulcans procreate… You shouldn't have any trouble remembering something of this… significance."  
  
She shook her head to show that she definitely did NOT remember.  
  
"Well, then I will tell you this," he said, changing the subject. "The… child is ten weeks old. You must have noticed some swelling of the abdomen. Well now you have an explanation for that."  
  
"Have you told anyone?" T'Pol asked. For a Vulcan she looked very worried.  
  
"No. Of course not," he replied, sounding hurt.  
  
"I was not implying that you were neglecting your responsibilities as a physician." T'Pol assured him. "I was simply asking to make certain that you did not accidentally inform someone who I… was not aware of."  
  
"I understand Sub-commander. Anyway, as I was asking, would you like me to attempt to find out who the father is?" Phlox asked.  
  
T'Pol considered this for a minute before answering. "Not at this time," she said after a long pause.  
  
Phlox seemed somewhat disappointed at not being allowed to scan for this, but recovered quickly. "Are there any other questions that I can answer about your pregnancy?" He asked her. He hoped that she would have something he could answer for her."  
  
"Yes. I have two questions. First, what is the gender of this… child?"  
  
"Ah! I'm glad you asked. They are all female," he replied informatively.  
  
"They? All?" T'Pol looked almost frightened. "You imply multiples.  
  
"Yes… there are three to be exact."  
  
T'Pol looked as if she was either going to hurl or faint. "Three…" She repeated, her voice barely above a whisper.  
  
"Yes, three. Are you feeling lightheaded again?" Phlox asked as He gabbed a scanner.  
  
"No, I am fine." T'Pol told him, regaining her composure. "I do have another question. How long will I be able to hide my… condition without noticeable signs to the other members of the crew?"  
  
"You should probably be able to get away with wearing your usual uniform for another day or two. Any longer than that, however, and you may very well injure the fetus."  
  
She seemed satisfied with his answer. "Then I will be back to discuss my situation with you tomorrow morning. Goodnight, Doctor."  
  
"Goodnight, T'Pol. Sleep well." Phlox called after her. 


	3. Chapter 2

A/N: this chapter is REALLY short… that's because we're doing each new chunk as a chapter (ya know, in books they have the little row of stars between parts… we have new chapters instead)  
  
Chapter Two  
  
T'Pol sat on the floor in her quarters meditating when the door chimed. "Come in," she said clearly. The doors slid open to reveal Captain Archer standing in the doorway. She gestured to the floor in front of her. "Sit down," she told him.  
  
"Everything alright?" The Captain asked worried that her condition was serious.  
  
She was about to answer when she considered what would happen if she told him the truth now. He would be not only confused but probably wary of her. She decided that unless He asked her directly, she could avoid it. "Yes. However I would like to request several days leave of duty."  
  
"Why?" He asked.  
  
"I have to meet with Doctor Phlox tomorrow to discuss my… condition," she said. She was worried that she had told him too much.  
  
"What is your condition?"  
  
"I am not entirely certain," she told him, repressing a wince at how badly she'd lied.  
  
"Why do I get the felling you don't want to tell me what's going on?"  
  
T'Pol didn't answer his question. Instead, she did one of the things that she did best. She changed the subject. "Captain, will you give me a leave of duty?"  
  
The Captain considered this and replied, "You may have tomorrow off to discuss your condition with Doctor Phlox. But unless you tell me what's going on, I need you on the bridge the next day."  
  
T'Pol considered her position. She could tell him now and get an extra day to contemplate her current predicament. Or she could wait until it was absolutely necessary to tell him. She also considered how many lies she would have to tell him if He didn't find out now. Could she do that? She had lied to people on this ship many times in the past; she could do it again. But how long would they believe her? Many members of the crew, including the Captain and Commander Tucker, were quite suspicious of her sometimes and often discovered when she was lying. She decided, however, that she would not need to tell him until at least the next day. "Thank you Captain."  
  
The Captain stood up and walked to the door. "If there's anything you need to talk to me about, you know where to find me." With that, he left the room.  
  
"T'Pol released her breath, relieved that He had finally gone. She then went back to her meditation. 


	4. Chapter 3

A/N: thanks for the reviews so far… we WILL explain what happened to her later….. If not in the story, then in an author's note at the end of the story…. Also "small viewer"=that thing that T'Pol read her letter on in her quarters in Breaking the Ice as well as the thing that Trip read her letter on and the thing in the Captain's quarters/ready room that He always talks to Admiral Forrest on. If you know what this is called, please tell me…  
  
Chapter Three  
  
T'Pol woke late the next morning, alarmed at how much time had passed since her alarm usually woke her. He dressed quickly and darted out the door to go to sickbay.   
  
"I am late. I apologize," she told Doctor Phlox when she arrived.  
  
"No. You're right on time." He looked confused. Then He realized what she was talking about. "Oh. I took the liberty of turning your alarm off. You need plenty of sleep, and knowing you that would not have happened otherwise."  
  
T'Pol glared at him for a moment before regaining her composure. "Why did you tell me to come here this morning?" She asked.  
  
"To see how your condition is coming," Phlox answered as politely as possible.  
  
"I see." She paused a moment. "You said that you could tell me who the father was. I would like to know now."  
  
"Actually I told you that I could try to determine the father. With this being the first human-Vulcan pregnancy ever recorded, I have no basis for comparison. As a result, I may or may not be able to determine the father of this child. I will attempt to find out. If you would sit down over there." He pointed to a biobed and she sat down. He then took out a scanner and several other devices. After scanning for about a minute, He furrowed his brow. "Hmmmmmm…" He said.  
  
T'Pol raised an eyebrow and prompted. "Doctor?"  
  
"Well, it seems that, as I feared, the combination of human and Vulcan DNA makes it nearly impossible to be certain who the father is. If I had something to compare it to-"  
  
"Doctor," she interrupted.  
  
"Ah, yes… I'm afraid the only thing I can be certain about is that the father seems to be a human somewhere in the 30 to 50 year age group." He seemingly held pride in his ability to make such a discovery. "Ah, and I would recommend looking through your logs and the ship's logs in order to rule out anyone who you had no contact with," He suggested.  
  
"Thank you Doctor," T'Pol said as she hopped off the biobed. "I will. Goodbye Doctor."  
  
With that, T'Pol left sickbay and headed toward her quarters. On the way there she encountered Commander Tucker, who greeted her with a typical "Mornin' T'Pol." She only glanced at him and nodded as she made her way to her quarters as quickly as possible. She didn't want to talk with anyone before she got there.  
  
When she finally arrived at her quarters, she changed into a gown that was much looser and walked to the small viewer in her room. She brought up all of the log entries made around ten weeks ago. She couldn't find any made by her. After further searching, she remembered that she'd been on an away mission for three days. She opened up the mission logs from that away mission and discovered that, aside from herself, the only other crewmembers present had been the Captain, Ensign Sato, Commander Tucker, and Ensign Stewart. She didn't remember Ensign Stewart or Commander Tucker being there, nor did she remember what she did on that mission. She searched the logs further and discovered that Ensign Stewart had piloted the shuttle pod down. He had then been forced to take the pod back to Enterprise after it was damaged in a storm on the way down. Not wanting to risk anymore people than he had to, the Captain had ordered the crew to stay on the uninhabited planet until another pod could be sent down for them. The other shuttle pod had been undergoing other repairs at the time and the away team had been forced to wait on the planet for several days.   
  
Therefore, the only human males that she'd had any contact with around ten weeks ago had been the Captain and Commander Tucker. But that was impossible. She would never do anything unprofessional with them. Or any members of the crew for that matter. But someone on the crew had done this to her, whether it had been against her will or not; whether she could remember or not. Perhaps, though, Phlox had been incorrect on the time frame estimate he'd made. This was, after all, the first human-Vulcan pregnancy ever recorded, as Doctor Phlox himself had stated. He had also said that the human-Vulcan physiology made it quite difficult to isolate any identifying human DNA.   
  
She looked at the logs for several more minutes, though it seemed like hours. Then she turned off the monitor and walked to the middle of the room to sit down. She lit a candle and began to meditate. The candle light reflecting off the walls of the small room was the last thing that T'Pol saw before closing her eyes. She had the entire day to meditate and planned to make good use of it. She could then return to sickbay to inform the Doctor of her findings and ask him to rerun some of his scans and to check his previous theory. 


	5. Chapter 4

A/N: someone made a review saying that we need more character interaction… don't worry, that's coming. We're just in the initial parts of the story right now…. It's VERY long…. Just wait, the time for lots of character interaction will come. Now, to chapter 4  
  
  
Chapter Four  
  
As T'Pol made her way toward sickbay, she contemplated her current predicament. She passed by several crewmembers, although she didn't pay any attention to them. She walked all the way to her destination without even thinking about where to turn, what doors to go through, or how far to walk. Her mind was completely centered on only one thing. The same questions kept repeating over and over in her head; Was this really happening? Was this true? If so, who was the mysterious father? And especially, what would the Vulcan High Command have to say about this? Would they recall her? Demote her? Would they have something done to her crewmates?  
  
Fortunately her questions went away as her thoughts where interrupted by Doctor Phlox's all-too-cheery voice. "Welcome back Sub-Commander, is something wrong?"  
  
She looked at him, his expression was one of genuine concern. "No," she said simply.  
  
"Well, then, what do you need?" He asked her.  
  
"I have completed my… investigation," she told him.  
  
Although he didn't say anything his expression told her to continue.  
  
"I have discovered several possible candidates. However I don't believe either of them can be the father."  
  
"Why not?"  
  
"10 weeks ago, I was on an away mission with three other crewmembers; Ensign Sato, Commander Tucker, and Captain Archer."  
  
"Why don't you believe that it is The Captain or Mr. Tucker? You do spend a lot of time with them."  
  
BEfore she could reply, a voice came form behind them. "You guys talkin' 'bout me?"  
  
"Ah! Commander, what brings you here? Are you feeling alright?" Phlox chimed in an overly cheerful manner.  
  
"Uh, no Doc." He turned to T'Pol. "Where've you been? The Cap'n says you took the day off." He turned back to the Denobulan. "We were scheduled to meet and go over the those sensor readings from yesterday, but I couldn't find you." Back to T'Pol again, he added, "I was tryin' to reach you on the comm, but you weren't answerin'. I went to see if you were in your quarters, but you weren't there. I saw you in the corridor, and I've been chasin' you for nearly ten minutes--when did you change?"  
  
T'Pol only blinked. She wasn't sure how to respond to this. Her eyes betrayed her and were filled with fear. When had he entered sickbay, and why was he so intent on finding her--even after the Captain had told him that she had taken a day off. What did all this mean? Before she could answer the comment from Commander Tucker, Doctor Phlox had already come up with something to say.  
  
"Sub-Commander T'Pol and I were busy discussing her medical history when you came in. She was injured on the bridge yesterday, so I told her to take it easy for a day or two," he explained. It wasn't entirely a lie, but it wasn't exactly the truth either.  
  
T'Pol seemed to appreciate the comment but added her own two cents. "I changed in my quarters earlier today while meditating." She seemed confidant that the excuses should put leave to any possible doubts. Un fortunately, she had overlooked one thing.  
  
"If that's true, then why were ya talkin' 'bout me?" Trip looked as puzzled as he felt.  
  
T'Pol suddenly felt stupid. She'd lied, and still he didn't believe her. And now she didn't know how to respond. Apparently the Doctor didn't either, because the two of them simply looked at each other and blinked.  
  
T'Pol knew that now there was only one thing that she could do. "I will explain everything if you and the Captain meet me in my quarters in thirty minutes," T'Pol told him reluctantly. "Now, I would like to speak with Doctor Phlox alone for a few minutes. Regarding a… personal situation."  
  
The engineer looked puzzled, but knew when to take a hint. "Uh…. 'k. I'll just go get the Cap'n. Se ya in thirty minutes." He quickly left sickbay with more questions than he had entered with.  
  
When Commander Tucker had left sickbay, T'Pol turned back to the Doctor. "Are you certain it must be one of them?"  
  
"I am most certain. They fit the time period and age requirements. I can't see how it could have been anyone else. You were, after all, on an away mission with no other human males." When he saw the scowl on her face which she had been unsuccessful in suppressing, he began speaking in a more compassionate tone. "I can understand your reluctance to tell them. But need I remind you--they will find out eventually." As he thought of something else, his tone changed to a humored one. "And keep in mind that when Commander Tucker was pregnant, he told you. And you had nothing at all to do with his pregnancy. It seems only fair to return the favor, especially when he quite possibly has something to do with yours." When her confidence level didn't seem to increase, he decided to help her out a little. "I could tell them for you if you don't feel confident telling them yourself."  
  
"Thank you, Doctor. But I must be the one to tell them."  
  
"Very well," he said, submitting to her authority. "But the three of you can always come here to sickbay together if you want me to help you at all."  
  
She nodded and began walking toward the door. As soon as she passed through it, she began to walk to her quarters in the same way that she had walked to sickbay only a few minutes earlier. 


	6. Chapter 5

A/N: I know, I know, all this thinking is getting boring, and all this stuff is getting boring with T'Pol trying to tell them…. But don't worry, this is the last chapter of that… YAY!!!!! Then I get to go on to the interesting, exciting parts and get out of this stuff that is only necessary so that you know what's going on…..   
  
  
Chapter Five  
  
T'Pol had been pondering what to tell them during the entire walk from sickbay. She still didn't know what to say. Normally she was more decisive than this. But then, she had never been in this situation before. She was in her quarters and meditating when the door chimed. She was suddenly filled with emotions. Emotions that she shouldn't be able to feel. She was completely overwhelmed and confused. Her hands were suddenly cold and she couldn't move her legs. The door chimed again. "Come in," she responded.  
  
The door opened, and the Captain walked in followed by Commander Tucker. They stopped and the door closed behind them. "Sit down," she told them. Commander Tucker chose to sit down on the floor while the Captain chose the edge of the bed.  
  
"Trip says you wanted to tell us what's going on," The Captain told her. He was obviously curious, but uncertain at the same time.  
  
The Captain's comment seemed to be effective in breaking the ice and she could once again feel her legs. T'Pol stood up and started pacing between the Captain and the Commander. She realized that she was experiencing anxiety. She didn't think that was possible.  
  
Apparently the other officers didn't think it was possible either. Her behavior was obviously beginning to make them uncomfortable. They looked at each other. The Captain looked confused, but only got a shrug from the Commander.  
  
After a few more minutes of pacing, increasing the tension in the room to overwhelming levels, she sat back down and decided to tell them. She still didn't know how to say it though. "I…" she began.  
  
"You what?" Trip asked her, urging her to continue. He could tell that she was nervous, but also knew that getting things out into the open was the best cure for that particular problem.  
  
As he urged her forward, she gained a little more confidence. Just enough to tell them. "I am pregnant," she said at last, finally letting out her breath. When the two men looked at each other and to work hard to keep their jaws from dropping in disbelief, she continued. "Doctor Phlox told me yesterday."  
  
"Is this some kind of joke?" He Commander asked her. It was obvious that this was not at all what he was expecting. Fortunately, the look in her eyes told him everything he needed to know. It was clear that she was not joking.  
  
The Captain was about to say something when she began again. "Doctor Phlox has also informed me that one of you… is the father." She felt then as if a great weight had been lifted off her shoulders. Unfortunately, the Commander didn't seem to feel the same way.  
  
"What??!!" He protested. "It must be the Cap'n 'cause I know it in't me!"  
  
The Captain shot a shocked glare at his friend. "Trip!" He shouted, surprised and shocked that his friend would say such a thing about him. "T'Pol, what are you talking about?" The Captain asked as he turned back to T'Pol. He sounded almost as confused and insulted as his colleague had.  
  
"I have told you all that I can. The Doctor can tell you everything you want to know. She paused before continuing. "Now… please leave." T'Pol could barely speak by then. The uncontrollable emotions were overwhelming her. She pointed to the door, her face deceiving her demeanor. When the men simply sat, looking and feeling shocked, dazed, and confused, she repeated what she'd said--more forceful this time. "Now…please!"  
  
The Captain and Commander stood and looked at each other, then at the door. Trip, it appeared, couldn't get out of the room fast enough. After a quick shot back at T'Pol, he hushed the door controls. As soon as it opened, he stormed out, apparently mad at T'Pol for suggesting that he would ever do such a thing as she was suggesting. The Captain followed Trip in a similar manner.  
  
The two men, once in the corridor, walked surprisingly quietly to sickbay. They were both angry, but shocked and confused at the same time. They had stopped storming around when they'd had to stop in a turbolift, so instead of a rant, they entered sickbay in a shocked daze.  
  
"Ah! Gentlemen, I see you have spoken to Sub-Commander T'Pol." Phlox's voice echoed in their heads like background noise. They didn't even seem to know that they'd entered sickbay. "Captain? Commander?" Phlox asked each of them quizzically.  
  
"Sorry Doctor… What did you say?" The Captain asked, finally coming to his senses. He elbowed Trip in the arm, and the other man responded by snapping his neck up straighter and looking around.  
  
"Would I be correct in assuming that you have just spoken with Sub-Commander T'Pol and that it didn't go well?" The Doctor asked them, though he already knew the answer.  
  
The Captain simply nodded. Trip, on the other hand, was a little less diplomatic. "Yeah! What the hell is goin' on? T'Pol says that one of us got her pregnant!" he shouted, gesturing dramatically. "She said that you had an explanation, so let's hear it."  
  
Phlox slightly chuckled, which made Trip even more frustrated. He tried to explain as well as he could. "First, may I point out that she didn't even know about this until yesterday, and that she wasn't planning on telling either of you as she is convinced that neither of you can be the father. I was telling her that it was indeed one of you when you walked in earlier." He pointed at Trip, then went on to explain everything that he and T'Pol knew about the situation. The two listened as if they were wide-eyed little children listening to a story.  
  
"So… you're sayin' that… ten weeks ago, while we were on that away mission, one of us somehow… got T'Pol pregnant?" Trip asked, looking as confused and angry as he felt. "That's impossible. We got separated on the planet. Hoshi and the Cap'n and me and T'Pol. We spent two days tryin' to find each other 'cause we lost all our equipment. We were working the WHOLE time… NOTHIN' HAPPENED!!"  
  
"Yeah, he's right. T'Pol and I were only in the same vicinity for one night, and I spent that whole night sitting out by the campfire because I couldn't sleep. T'Pol was sleeping-- I didn't even see her. There has to be some mistake," The Captain added.  
  
"NO. I am certain I have made no mistake in my readings. It has to be one of you. Unless you can think of any possible alternative…" Doctor Phlox pointed out.  
  
Trip opened his mouth to say something, but apparently thought better of it. Both men looked at each other exasperated and left sickbay to mull over their thoughts privately.  
  
  
  
  
A/N 2: yes, we know that in this chapter we mention breaking the ice while in T'Pol's quarters… don't worry… no reference to the episode… we didn't even realize that until now…. 


	7. Chapter 6

A/N: I realize that in the last few parts, the word "shocked" has been used about a million times, so I attempted to change the word "shocked" to other things in the rest of the story via the computer thesaurus…  
  
  
Chapter Six  
  
  
After he left sickbay, the Captain left to go his quarters, trying to escape his thoughts. He decided he would watch some water polo to relax.  
  
When he arrived, he began to sit down when a communication from the bridge interrupted his thoughts. He stood up and pressed the intercom button on the wall by his door. "This is the Captain."  
  
"Sir, a Vulcan ship just dropped out of warp off our port bow. They're hailing us," Hoshi's voice piped over the speaker.  
  
"Put it through to my quarters," he replied solemnly.  
  
"Yes sir," Hoshi replied promptly before cutting the transmission.  
  
"This is going to be interesting," The Captain told Porthos. He sat down at the desk in his quarters and pressed the "on" button for the monitor. A Vulcan appeared on the screen.  
  
"This is Captain Archer. What do you need?"  
  
"I have several passengers on board who need to speak with a Vulcan serving on your ship."  
  
"T'Pol?' He asked rhetorically.  
  
The Vulcan seemed to look over at another screen and nodded. "Yes, Sub-Commander T'Pol."  
  
"Who needs to talk to her?" He asked.  
  
"Several members of her family."  
  
"Family?" He asked, stunned. He thought of T'Pol, then thought of how uncomfortable she'd been talking to her friends about her predicament. If she couldn't tell them without problems, how would she ever explain anything to her family, whom she most likely hadn't seen in person for several years. He was suddenly very worried for his science officer. He thought of what he could do for her, but everything he came up with was just too outlandish. There was no way to prevent the Vulcans from coming to Enterprise. So instead of using one of the dozens of excuses running through his head, he just smiled. "Well, send them over then. I'll inform T'Pol that she's going to have guests."  
  
"Thank you, Captain," The Vulcan answered. The screen changed to the familiar blinking "end transmission," which soon disappeared as well when he turned off the console.  
  
He stood up and walked over to the comm near the door, and nearly pressed it. But instead he thought better of it and walked out the door instead. He thought it better to tell T'Pol in person, rather than over the comm, about the coming Vulcans. He had to hurry, for soon the Vulcans would dock and T'Pol would need to be there waiting.   
  
He reached her quarters in a very short period of time and pushed the button beside the door. When he got her permission, he opened it and found her meditating again--or was it still? She looked up when he walked in.  
  
"I need you to come to the docking port right away," he told her.  
  
"Why?" She asked stubbornly.  
  
"Because a Vulcan ship is about to dock." This comment resulted in a harsh glare from T'Pol.  
  
"Vulcan?" She asked, mostly to herself.  
  
"There's more," he told her, somewhat reluctantly. "Several members of your family are on that ship. They came to talk to you."  
  
This time T'Pol didn't respond. She didn't need to. He knew what she was probably thinking. If they found out she was pregnant with half-human children, what would they do? Especially when she didn't know who the father was. It wasn't him for sure, and he hoped it wasn't Trip, although he feared that it was. Still, she didn't have anything to tell her family on that issue. So what would they think of that?  
  
"You could talk to them, then send them on their way. You don't have to tell them anything," he told her, hoping he sounded more encouraging that he felt.  
  
"I can't lie to family," she told him still speaking stubbornly despite her obvious doubts about telling them.  
  
"It's not lying unless you tell them flat-out that you're NOT pregnant. Not telling them the whole truth isn't lying."  
  
She seemed to consider that for a moment. He expected to hear another protest, but instead she seemed to calm herself and relax. "Perhaps you're right," she right.  
  
Right as he was going to respond, he heard Hoshi's voice over the comm. "The Vulcan ship is requesting permission to dock."  
  
He walked over to the comm panel and pushed the button which allowed him to respond. "Tell them to wait a few minutes. Then they can go ahead. Have Trip meet me there."  
  
"Yes, sir."  
  
After Hoshi cut off the transmission, he turned back to T'Pol before opening the door to leave. "You'd better hurry. I expect you to be there when that ship docks."  
  
She nodded and he walked out the door, making sure it closed him. 


	8. Chapter 7

A/N:   
  
  
Chapter Seven  
  
"Where is she, Cap'n?" Trip asked impatiently.  
  
"I don't know. She said she'd be here before they docked," Captain Archer answered.  
  
"Well, she'd better hurry. She's got about forty-five seconds and I don't want t' greet a bunch of Vulcans by m'self."  
  
"Don't worry, Trip. She'll show up."  
  
"I sure hope so 'cause I-" before he could finish, T'Pol walked around the corner to meet them. He heard Trip breathe a sigh of relief, but also saw the look on his face. Trip had never seen T'Pol wearing her more traditional Vulcan robes before. And he wasn't good at hiding his surprise. T'Pol also seemed to notice his expression.  
  
"Doctor Phlox told me to wear an outfit other than my uniform for the duration of my…" she paused, probably making sure no one was around. When a crewman walked by, she continued in a softer tone, "…condition." It was more obvious than it ever had been that T'Pol didn't want ANYONE to know that she was pregnant. She had always been a private person, but she seemed even more private than usual.  
  
Fortunately, she didn't have to add anything further. "There docked, Cap'n," Trip told him. His comment seemed to make T'Pol a bit nervous, although she tried unsuccessfully to hide it. She nodded to them, letting Trip know that he could open the airlock without her objection.  
  
Trip complied with her unspoken request and the door began to slide open. T'Pol, he noted, was standing up straight--probably trying to look as confident as was possible given the circumstances.  
  
As the door locked into place, four Vulcans--two males and two females-- all with gray hair and stern faces, stepped out cautiously into the corridor. He was about to introduce himself, but the Vulcans all turned to T'Pol and said something in Vulcan which he couldn't understand. T'Pol responded in Vulcan and the visitors turned to Trip, then the Captain. He hoped that T'Pol was just introducing them.  
  
When the Vulcans had stopped talking, T'Pol turned to look at the chief engineer. "T'Pol?" he asked her.  
  
She looked surprised, and not very happy, even for a Vulcan. "May I speak with you for a moment, Commander?" she asked him politely.  
  
"Sure…" he responded. She walked away from the group and he followed her as they walked around a corner. Once she stopped and turned to face him, he continued. "What is it?" he asked, worried.  
  
She began speaking very quietly. "My parents," she told him quickly.  
  
"Those are your parents?"  
  
She nodded.  
  
"You have four parents?" he asked, thinking that maybe he knew even less about Vulcans than he thought he had.  
  
She didn't seem to notice how stupid the question was. "No. Two of them are Koss' mother and father."  
  
"Wait--Koss? You don't mean the same one that you broke up with?"  
  
She looked confused. "Broke up with?" she asked.  
  
"Never mind. You aren't talkin' 'bout the same Koss who you were gonna marry, are you?"  
  
"Yes, I am."  
  
"But didn't you decide NOT to marry him?"  
  
"Yes."  
  
"Then what are his parents doin' here?" Now it was his turn to be confused.  
  
She paused a moment before answering. "To tell me to marry Koss."  
  
"But they can't do that!" he shouted-- a bit louder than he'd expected. He made sure to continue at a lower volume when he spoke again. "You told 'em you didn't want to. It was your choice, no theirs."  
  
"They are claiming that it was not my decision to make, and that I must return to Vulcan immediately to attend the ceremony."  
  
"But they gave a you a choice. Doesn't that imply that you could decide which option to go with?"  
  
"Obviously they didn't believe it did."  
  
"Well, have you told them that you're-" he stopped himself before he said too much.  
  
"No. I will tell them only when and if it is absolutely unavoidable. Until that point, I intend to keep it between those who already know."  
  
"Well you-" he decided to whisper directly into her ear this time, as the Vulcans standing by the airlock all had very good hearing. Once he had leaned forward enough, he started over. "You can't get married when you're gonna have someone else's kid-- let alone three."  
  
"You mean when I will have what are most likely YOUR children?" T'Pol was now whispering as well in a very un-Vulcan fashion.  
  
This made Trip jump back. "Hey!" he shouted, sounding hurt.  
  
T'Pol didn't raise her voice from a whisper at all as she continued. "The evidence clearly shows that you are the most likely candidate."  
  
"If that's true, then-" he once again cut himself off and leaned into her ear. "If that's true, then how come neither of us remember anything happening that could have led to this?"  
  
"I don't know," she admitted into his ear.  
  
He leaned back and looked her straight in the eyes. "Then why do you say it's me?"  
  
"I-" Before she could finish, her face went very pale, and she put her arm over her stomach.  
  
"T'Pol?" Trip asked, confused and concerned.  
  
Instead of an answer, he got a blank stare as her eyes rolled up into her head and T'Pol began to slump backward. He realized what was happening and quickly moved to catch her before she could be injured from the fall.   
  
Fortunately, he had been standing close enough to her that he got behind her in plenty of time. She landed safely in his waiting arms behind her. When he was satisfied that she would fall any further, he gently lowered her to the ground. Once she was down, he pulled his arms out from under her.   
  
It wasn't until that moment that he began to panic. He checked her pulse and breathing. She was alive. He relaxed and moved so that he could talk into her ear again. "T'Pol?" he whispered. He moved back. She didn't move. "T'Pol?" he asked again into her ear, louder this time. Nothing.   
  
What would her parents do if they found her like this? He decided not to tell the Vulcans just yet that she had collapsed. He stood up again, and, after taking a last glance at T'Pol, walked back to where the Captain and Vulcans were waiting. "Cap'n," he said. "Can you come 'ere for a minute?"  
  
"I'll be right back," the Captain told the Vulcans politely before following Trip. When they rounded the corner the Captain saw T'Pol lying on the ground. He looked up at Trip. "You mind explaining this?"  
  
"Sorry, Cap'n. She just collapsed," He whispered. "But what should we do with her?"  
  
The Captain thought for a moment. "Well, we don't want to Vulcans to see her unconscious-- they might start asking questions that she doesn't want them to know the answer to," He paused, apparently thinking again. "I've got an idea. Take her to sickbay. I'll tell the Vulcans that the two of you had to go to engineering to finish some work. Hopefully, they'll believe that. As soon as the Doctor gives her a clean bill of health, go to engineering for a few minutes, then get her back to her quarters."  
  
Trip stood there for a moment without answering, then as He was told, went over to T'Pol. He picked her up gently and carried her toward sickbay a the Captain went back to the Vulcans. Trip hoped that the Captain's plan would work, and He silently wished him luck. He carried her to sickbay as fast as He could, the whole time thinking about the situation at hand. T'Pol's parents were here, telling her to get married, not knowing at all of T'Pol's situation.  
  
He hoped she could get out of it…  
  
  
  
  
  
A/N 2: I know the fainting thing was kinda cheesy, but it was necessary for the Vulcan thing to not be resolved yet…. Plus I got to include Trip carrying T'Pol to sickbay…. 


	9. Chapter 8

A/N: I gotta work on that action thing…. Sorry, no more dead space…. I tend to do the dead space thing and describe the same thing for hours…. It's my sister that keeps the writing in short, clipped sections instead of BIG, LONG paragraphs that talk about only one thing… I'll try to work on NOT doing that, but we already have a lot written that's not typed up, so it may be awhile before readers actually SEE changes made in our story's writing…. Once again, thanks for the reviews!!!!!  
  
  
Chapter Eight  
  
  
"Doc!" Trip yelled.  
  
Doctor Phlox turned and immediately saw the problem. "Lay her down over there," He said, pointing to a bed.  
  
Trip complied and the Doctor got out a scanner. "What happened?" He asked as He began his scans.  
  
"We were talking and she just… collapsed. Don't ask me why."  
  
"I don't believe I'll need to ask you, Commander." He grabbed a hypospray and filled it with some kind of medicinal liquid. He walked over to T'Pol as he continued, "It appears that she is having more trouble adjusting to her pregnancy than she should be."  
  
"What the hell's that supposed to mean?" Trip asked in a concerned yet angry tone.  
  
"Oh, it's nothing serious," the Doctor assured him. "But she may continue to collapse fairly frequently for the duration of her pregnancy."  
  
"How long is that? And how come you didn't tell me this BEFORE she collapsed?"  
  
Doctor Phlox seemed to ignore the statement and instead injected T'Pol with the hypospray. She opened her eyes and sat up. "What happened?" she asked.  
  
"You're body is not compensating for the human metabolism of the… babies. As a result, you simply… collapsed," Doctor Phlox told her. "And I'm afraid that this will continue to occur. So I suggest that you have someone with you at all times. And that someone should have a hypospray ready so that you don't have to come to sickbay every time.  
  
Trip expected T'Pol to object to, or at least question, the Doctor's suggestion, but instead she just hopped off the bed. "Very well," she told him.  
  
"But only the three of us know about his… unless T'Pol plans on tellin' someone else about it, that means that you, me, or the Cap'n' have to follow her everywhere for the next seven months!" Trip protested.  
  
"Ten months actually. And yes, Commander, that is correct," the Doctor stated matter-of-factly.  
  
"Ten?!" Trip exclaimed, very confused.  
  
"Vulcan pregnancies are considerably longer than those of humans. Human children develop faster, which is why the pregnancy is causing such problems. I might point out that, with triplets and the human metabolism, ten months could be more time than it will take. But considering I've never heard of a Vulcan having triplets and a human-Vulcan hybrid has never been done before, I can't be sure."  
  
"Oh," Trip replied, still confused but not wanting the Doctor to continue further. He turned to T'Pol and told her about the Captain's plan before continuing. "Is she free to go, Doc?"  
  
"Of course."  
  
"Well, then. We need to get to engineering before our visitors start snoopin' and figure out we're not there.  
  
"Vulcans don't snoop," T'Pol replied. She started toward the door, Trip following behind her.  
  
"Commander!" called Doctor Phlox, waving a hypospray.  
  
Trip turned around and took the hypospray from the Doctor's hand and mumbled. "How could I forget?"  
  
He turned back to follow T'Pol, who had stopped just as she had reached the door. He reached her and the two of them began walking to engineering.  
  
"So I've gotta follow you around with a hypospray for ten months?" Trip asked rhetorically.  
  
"Not only you," she reminded him. "The Captain and Doctor Phlox can both do it just as well."  
  
"But do you really think that's likely? The Doc can't leave sickbay for ten months… what if there was some emergency? And the Cap'n can't leave the bridge with you every time you go anywhere."  
  
"Do you not want to assist me, Commander?" She asked sternly, avoiding his question. "Because if you do not want to, I can tell someone else about my situation and ask them to help. Would you like that, Commander? For someone else to know of your involvement?"  
  
He was about to comment on the fact that it wasn't him, but He knew that would get him nowhere. Instead, He just raised his hands defensively and frowned. "I'm comin' aren't I?"  
  
T'Pol walked to the turbolift with Trip doing his best to keep up. 


	10. Chapter 9

A/N: ok, you guys WILL find out how she got pregnant…. Don't worry, I will tell you (hopefully in the story, but possibly in an author's note at the end if I can't fit it in……), and thanks for all the reviews….. Thanks for liking this story…..!!!!!   
  
Chapter Nine  
  
  
They entered engineering with only one thing on their minds--look busy. Whenever one of them would spot something that needed to be done, they would fly to the console and work as slowly as possible while the other made up a stupid excuse to stand next to them. Not to mention coming up with a reasonable explanation of why it took the chief engineer ten minutes to complete a simple impulse diagnostic. When people asked, he wasn't sure whether his answers were convincing them, but at least he was glad that someone was seeing them in engineering, and could give them an alibi, at least as far as the Vulcans were concerned.  
  
Once nearly two hours had passed, Trip finally got tired of doing busy work. He tapped T'Pol on the shoulder, nodded toward the door, and signaled that he was leaving. She nodded in response and went back to tapping buttons meaninglessly. She waited five minutes and then walked out herself, grabbing a PADD on the way out in a last attempt to look busy.  
  
She met her colleague around the corner of the corridor. He was pretending to change a circuit in one of the comm panels, and when he saw her, he breathed a sign of relief. "What took ya so long?" He asked. "I was afraid you'd passed out again."  
  
"It has only been five minutes, Commander," she told him, almost sounding proud of her superior ability to gauge time.  
  
Knowing by her tone of voice that he would never get her to admit that five minutes was indeed a long time, he simply sighed and followed her as she began walking toward the turbolift.  
  
The walked in silence to her quarters, only the sound of their boots clicking in unison gave any clue to the fact that they were walking together.  
  
Once they reached her quarters, Trip looked relieved. They had only passed two crewmembers, and hadn't seen any Vulcans. "Well, I guess I'll see ya later," he said, starting to walk off.  
  
"Commander," T'Pol called quietly.  
  
"Yeah?" He inquired, stopping and turning back toward her.  
  
At this point she paused to think, as if she didn't really have a reason to stop him from leaving in the first place and now to think of one. She thought about her situation. If she were to be rendered unconscious, there would be no one around to resuscitate her. She needed a hypospray near her, but it would not be considered appropriate for Commander Tucker to reside in her quarters for ten months. She opted to simply take the hypospray and hope that nothing happened. "The hypospray?" She asked weakly, still not sure if this was exactly the best choice for her to make.  
  
"Oh, right," He said, unzipping a pocket on his uniform and pulling out the hypospray. He handed it to her. "Ya gonna be alright by yourself?" He asked, the concern apparent in his voice.  
  
She nodded her reply and added, "If I begin to feel lightheaded, I will use the hypospray. I will be…" she searched for the right word. "…fine."  
  
"Alright. If you have any problems, you know how to call me," he told her, just as a precaution.  
  
"I will keep that in mind. Goodnight, Commander." She slipped the hypospray into her robe and walked into her quarters.  
  
"Sweet dreams," he whispered as he started for his quarters. On the way there, he changed his mind and turned instead to go to the Captain's quarters. 


	11. Chapter 10

A/N: I KNOW, I know, I know…. You're probably getting tired of nothing but Trip/T'Pol stuff… I mean, we all love T/T'P (ok, well I do), but I know, breaks are good…. So here's something different… Trip with the captain…. (get yer mind outta the gutter… no slash)…. Anyway…. Continuing the story…..  
  
Chapter Ten  
  
  
The door chime interrupted his thoughts as it rang again. He considered for a moment just letting the person stand there for a minute with no answer. Then he realized that, as captain, he had to set an example for the crew. Leaving them at the door without an answer wasn't a very good example. What kind of captain didn't answer the door! Finally, after the fourth ring he called out, "Enter." The door slid open to reveal Trip standing in the doorway.  
  
"What took ya so long? Can I come in?" Even though it had taken the Captain a bit longer than usual to open the door, he knew that he would never deny Trip access.  
  
The Captain regarded his friend with a nod of his head, gesturing to a chair in the corner of the room. Trip took the hint and sat down with an exhausted flop. "So how's she doing?" He asked Trip.  
  
"T'Pol?" The Captain nodded unnecessarily. "She's doin' fine. I'm a little worried though. She's sittin' in 'er quarters alone. The Doc says she'll probably keep faintin' a lot so he gave me a hypospray to-" he tried to keep on talking, but the Captain cut him off with a raise of his hand.  
  
"She's in her quarters?" The Captain interrupted.  
  
"Yeah, that's where you said to bring her after engineering, something' wrong, Cap'n?" Trip asked, the worry evident in his voice.  
  
"That's before I knew she would KEEP fainting. I sent her family there to wait for her."  
  
"Uh-oh," was Trip's only reply.  
  
"The Captain quickly went to the wall and the communicator, "Captain to T'Pol." he said, pushing the white 'talking' button.  
  
"Yes, Captain." came a voice over the speaker.  
  
The Captain tried quick to think of an excuse for her to get out of there. "Could you bring me those scans of the planet you took ten days ago." The Captain attempted badly.  
  
"Cap'n?" Trip asked confused and bewildered. "We haven't run into any planets for we-" it finally dawned on him that the Captain was making it up.  
  
As the Captain waited for reply he hoped that T'Pol caught on faster than his friend had been, or at least that she wouldn't say anything it out loud.  
  
"Yes, Captain," was all she said in reply.  
  
"Cap'n, I thought we wanted T'Pol to avoid her family. Why did you send them to her quarters?" Trip asked, confused.  
  
"I was hoping that when she got there, she could clear up any problems they had and send them on their on way." He took a seat on his bed, reaching for his dog. "Porthos, come here boy," he said, slapping the bed next to him. The beagle jumped up next to him and laid down.  
  
"She's been there for a while. I hope she hasn't already been forced to spill the beans…" Trip commented.  
  
The door chime buzzed, informing them that T'Pol had arrived. "Come in," the Captain said. The door opened, and T'Pol stepped just inside. She had her hands clasped behind her back, and was wearing the Vulcan robes that she'd worn earlier. The Captain stood and walked over to join her.  
  
She took her hands from behind her back, revealing a pad. Handing it to the Captain, she started. "Here are the scans you asked for."  
  
He furrowed his brow and glanced at the PADD, realized there was something written on it. He read the words 'my family insists on following me around the ship' and relaxed his forehead. He typed one word into it: 'why?' and handed it back to her.  
  
She stepped in at this silent question, assuming that he would have asked out loud if he had wanted to terminate the secrecy of his asking her here. The door closed behind her and he prompted her with a "Well?" and sat down on his bed again.  
  
"They are following me because they sense I am hiding something from them," she said hesitantly.  
  
"Who are they anyway?" The Captain asked suddenly.  
  
T'Pol seemed to be caught slightly off-guard, but recovered quickly and looked at the captain oddly. "My family," she said, her tone suggesting that he was stupid to ask such a question. Trip thought that it was pretty funny and had to work very hard to suppress his laughter.  
  
The Captain looked equally humored. "I know that already T'Pol. But how are they related to you?"  
  
"We were born into the same family," she replied with that same tone, although this time just a hint of humor crept into her voice. It was at this point that Trip wondered why she wouldn't tell the Captain that they were her parents, as she had told him straight out. Then she realized that the Captain didn't know about Koss, let alone his parents and the fact that they were as mad as Vulcans could get at T'Pol for not marrying their son. Trip was afraid that the Captain would press her for more information, but fortunately that was not what happened. The Captain seemed to catch on pretty quickly to the fact that she wasn't going to answer that question.  
  
"Well…" the Captain said after a few moments of silence. "…if you don't want to tell me, T'Pol, then that's your business. But I can help you a whole hell of a lot easier when I know what's going on."  
  
She only nodded in reply.  
  
"Are your… family members here now?" He asked her.  
  
"Yes. They are waiting for me outside in the corridor."  
  
"Do you still have that hypospray?" Trip asked her.  
  
"Yes." She pulled it out of a pocket, which was covered by her outer robes. There was another thirty seconds of silence.  
  
The Captain then turned to the Commander. "Trip, get the Vulcans off her tail. At least until we can figure out a more solution."  
  
"Sure thing, Cap'n. That is, as long as T'Pol doesn't mind hangin' out with me for a while," he said, grinning at the Vulcan.  
  
"That is acceptable," she replied.   
  
"All right. The two of you are dismissed."  
  
T'Pol turned around and waited by the door Trip stood up and walked to join her. She opened the door and he gestured toward the opening. "After you," he told her.  
  
As the door closed behind them, the Vulcans walked over. Trip knew that this wasn't going to be easy. 


	12. Chapter 11

A/N: I know that this part is kinda boring, and may seem to not fit into the rest of the story, but I assure you: it is necessary for events which will occur later in the story.... so bear with me until later... it WILL get better later on... really!!!!  
  
Chapter Eleven  
  
All was silent at first. No one spoke, not even Trip. And that seemed odd. But then, the only others in the corridor were Vulcans, who he was not very good at conversing with. He was hoping that T'Pol would speak up, but when she only looked up at him with a hint of... was it nervousness... he knew he couldn't leave her the burden of speaking first.  
  
"So..." he said finally. "Mind doing the introductions?"  
  
This seemed to allow T'Pol to relax, and she nodded and began speaking in a slightly frightened tone. "Commander, this is my mother..." She pointed to one of the Vulcan females. "...my father..." she pointed to the first male. "...Koss' mother..." This time, the Vulcans all looked slightly angry when she pointed to the other female. "...and Koss' father." Once again, when Trip seemed to know who Koss was, the Vulcans glared at T'Pol.  
  
There was another long, awkward silence as Trip thought of a way to free T'Pol from her family. he couldn't think of anything. Every time he got an idea, his mind quickly dismissed it once he realized that the Vulcans would always find some reason to follow them. Until he remember one thing. Vulcan sense of smell. There was only one place on the entire ship where no Vulcan female, or male for that matter, would dare go. T'Pol, he knew, would probably go there at this point if it became necessary, even if it meant suffering for a little while.  
  
"Well..." he said, trying to come up with something that sounded realistic. "The Cap'n told me and T'Pol to fix the temperature relays down in the gym. Apparently people are havin' t' exercise down there in 36 degree heat."   
  
This comment didn't seem to phase the Vulcans at all. "There've been a bunch a complaints 'bout the smell," he added, hoping this would not only let T'Pol know what he had in mind, but also discourage the other Vulcans from coming.   
  
If not the Vulcans, then at least T'Pol seemed to catch on. "Perhaps you should remain in my quarters while we repair the relays. The sell may become intolerable for you," she said, addressing her family.  
  
Trip half-expected them to say no or comment on the fact that the smell would bother T'Pol as well. But, to his amazement, they simply nodded and walked back to her quarters. 


	13. Chapter 12

A/N: Sorry about the short chapters and the long wait for this new chapter…… we've been writing A LOT!!!!!!!!!, but just on paper….. Not typed…… sorry again….. Please review!!!!!!!  
  
  
Chapter Twelve  
  
Once the Vulcans had the corner, Trip released the breath that he didn't realize he'd been holding. He waited until he was certain that the Vulcans were out of earshot before speaking. "That should work for a bit," he told her. Then he pointed in the direction opposite of that which the Vulcans had gone. "Come on," he said. "Let's get down to the gym."  
  
"Why?" She asked, apparently not realizing that he had been serious about going to the gym.  
  
"We've got a couple of relays to damage," he said, sounding quite proud of himself for actually fooling a group of Vulcans… maybe a little TOO proud.  
  
"Why would you damage functioning relays? As chief engineer, the ship's systems and their operation should be your top priority. Typically, you become quite distressed when any systems are malfunctioning."  
  
He started walking toward the gym, and she followed him, seeing no alternative. 'I'm makin' an exception this time," he said as he started off.  
  
"Why?"  
  
"Because if your folks start snoopin', they're gonna know that we're lyin' to 'em 'bout what we're doin'. Then they'll start askin' questions. You know that."  
  
"Vulcans do not snoop," she said coldly.  
  
He stopped dead in his tracks, grabbing T'Pol lightly by the arm to force her to do the same. She complied and turned to face him. "Ok," he said, remembering that she'd said the same thing to him earlier. "Maybe Vulcans don't snoop, but they sure as hell are gonna find out what's goin' on once they realize that we're lyin' to 'em. And seein' as how you don't want 'em t' know, we need t' cover our tracks… I'm doin' this for you, ya know. If you wanna tell 'em, I'll stop right here an' now. But for your sake, I suggest ya NOT tell 'em. I think I've got a pretty good idea of what they'll do if ya tell 'em… and so d' you."  
  
"Are you sure that you know? And are you really trying to help me? Or are you trying to protect yourself?"  
  
"What the hell are you talkin' about?"  
  
"It seems to me, based on my observation of humans, that you are trying to prevent any legal or diplomatic issues and difficulties for yourself by attempting to prevent my family from discovering that it was most likely you who caused… this." She said this last word with great animosity and anger, especially for a Vulcan.  
  
At that, he leaned in close to her so that they were eye to eye. "Look…. It wasn't me who did this to ya. And even if it was, I wouldn't do that. If you don't wanna believe… fine. I'll just stop tryin' t' help ya, and you can figure out a way to solve your own damn problems."  
  
"Very well," she said, completely ignoring the anger and spite with which he spoke. "I will find my own way. Goodbye, Commander. I no longer require your 'help.'" She began to walk down the corridor, attempting to leave him alone.  
  
"T'Pol!" he shouted. She didn't turn around; didn't respond. She just walked around the corner. Suddenly he regretted everything he had just said to her, and he wanted her to return. He ran after her, nearly hitting the wall as he rounded the corner. "I didn't mean it!" he continued. She still just kept walking until she reached a turbolift door. Once there, she only stopped to press the call button, step inside, and turn around. As she pushed a button inside and the doors closed, she didn't once look at him. She had left, and hadn't even given it a second thought. 'Damn, I'm an idiot!' he thought. 


	14. Chapter 13

A/N: once again, I had another short chapter…. In fact, there's a bunch of REALLY short chapters in a row…… but then, there's a REALLY, REALLY, REALLY long one (well, compared to the rest, it's long.)  
  
Chapter Thirteen  
  
  
"Goal!" Captain Archer cheered from inside his quarters just before hearing the door chime. 'No one wants me to watch this, do they?' he thought, this being the fourth time that his water polo game had been interrupted. He turned off the game. "Enter," he said as he put down the remote. He was surprised to find Trip standing in the doorway looking very worried.  
  
"I lost 'er, Cap'n," Trip said, biting his lip nervously.  
  
"What do you mean…. 'lost 'er'?" the Captain asked.  
  
"I mean I lost 'er. She left…. Went down the turbolift an' disappeared. I followed 'er down but by the time I got sown to that deck, she was gone."  
  
"Who? Who was gone?" The Captain was still confused.  
  
"T'Pol!" Trip shouted, as if it was obvious.  
  
"What?! You lost her? You don't know where she is? This isn't a very big ship, Trip…"  
  
"I know…. But she won't answer me…." Trip was hesitant to state the 'because' part of his statement, but the Captain urged him silently to continue. "Prob'ly 'cause we argued again," he finished hesitantly.  
  
"You what?" The Captain asked in disbelief. "You were supposed to be WATCHING her, not arguing with her."  
  
"Sorry, Cap'n," Trip said sincerely. "An' it was about nothin', too… but now I can't find 'er. She's been gone for more than forty minutes, Cap'n. I've checked her quarters, the mess hall, the bridge… even engineering, the armory, and the gym. I can't find 'er, Cap'n. And I'm getting' worried. What if she passed out again? The Vulcans could find 'er."  
  
"If you think that she may have fainted again, then why don't you just SCAN for her? That wouldn't be too hard, would it?"  
  
"Sorry, Cap'n. I didn't think of that," he admitted.  
  
"Well, then let's go," the Captain said, leading Trip as he walked toward the bridge 


	15. Chapter 14

A/N: same as last time….. Just read and review… please!!!!!!!!! Oh, and sorry about making trip forget about scanning for T'Pol….. It was necessary for later plot development… besides, do you really think that Trip would remember every little detail… in some episodes, he forgets about things….. Ok, maybe not something THIS obvious, but, anyway…  
  
Chapter Fourteen  
  
  
Commander Tucker and Captain Archer seemed somewhat out of sorts but quite under control as they stepped from the turbolift onto the bridge.  
  
The Commander strolled naturally to the engineering station. He pushed a few buttons randomly and clicked the PADD in his hand pointlessly.  
  
At the same time, the Captain walked over to Hoshi, who was sitting between her own station and the science station behind it. "Hey. Could we get an update on our Vulcan friends?" he asked her quietly.  
  
"Sir?" Hoshi asked, obviously wondering why he would need 'an update' on the Vulcans, and also wondering about what he was talking about.  
  
"Scan for them, Ensign. Where are they on the ship?" he clarified, trying unsuccessfully not to sound too urgent.  
  
Hoshi caught on to his tone, and fortunately didn't ask any questions. "Oh," she said. "Sorry, sir. Scanning now…" She paused as the sensors quickly completed their task. ""There are two on B-deck… in Sub-Commander T'Pol's quarters… and there's one in the gym, one in hydroponics, and one in a corridor on B-deck." This was slightly shocking. They were supposed to all be T'Pol's quarters. At least, Trip'd said that he'd sent them there. assumed that they would have gone where told to go.  
  
"Hoshi, that's five… there's only four Vulcan guests," he said, trying to make sure that she didn't know that he was glad she'd told him all five of their locations.  
  
"Yes, sir.. I can't tell which life signs are from the four visitors, or which one's are T'Pol's. So I figured I'd tell you where all of them were."  
  
At this, Trip's head shot over, but he quickly glanced back down at the PADD in his hand.  
  
"Can you tell me ANYTHING about each of the Vulcans? So that I can know where our guests are." 'And why they're not in T'Pol's quarters like they're supposed to be. Not to mention so that we can know which is T'Pol.' he added to himself.  
  
"Well, I think I can tell you their genders… if that'll help." When he nodded, she continued, still confused as to why she was scanning for them in the first place. "Well, the two in T'Pol's quarters are female. They one in the gym MIGHT be male… I'm not sure… the sensors aren't picking up anything concrete for some reason. And the one in hydroponics is female." She paused for a moment, then got a strange look on her face. "That's odd…" she said quietly. "Anyway, the one in the corridor is male." she finished.  
  
"What's odd?" the Captain asked, half-ignoring her last statement.  
  
"Well… the ones in hydroponics and the gym have…. conflicting biosigns… like, well… I can't explain it," she said, her words trailing off.  
  
"That's okay," the Captain assured her, hoping that his voice didn't betray otherwise. He stood up and turned around, looking at the Commander and walking toward the turbolift. "Trip, you're with me."  
  
"Me, sir?" Trip asked, pretending to be confused.  
  
"Yes. Come with me," the Captain replied while stepping onto the lift. Trip followed suit after him. When the doors closed behind him, he turned toward his captain.  
  
"Now what d' we do?" he asked.  
  
The Captain thought about this for a moment, his head against the wall, as he decided on the plan that would arouse the least suspicion. Finally he decided on one and lifted his head and looked at his chief engineer. "You go look in hydroponics. I'll get the Doc, and have him check out the gym. And I'll go to her quarters. With any luck, one of us will find her before the Vulcans do."  
  
Trip nodded, knowing that the Vulcans shouldn't be around the ship. They were supposed to be in T'Pol's quarters. And they had no reason to leave that didn't involve her. And if she'd fainted again and the Vulcans found her…. He didn't even want to think about it. 


	16. Chapter 15

A/N: Once again, sorry for the cheesiness of the last chappy… I know it sucked, but we redid it a million times and just couldn't make it work…… I know… they shoulda used tricorder or something', but we needed this for the future plot….  
  
Chapter Fifteen  
  
  
As Doctor Phlox made his way toward the gym, he thought of what to say if the Vulcan there was not T'Pol. The Captain had suggested that he try not to make the Vulcans suspicious of their search. He feared that the Vulcans would find out about T'Pol's condition prematurely-it was a reasonable fear, as he himself agreed with the Captain's assessment. And the Vulcans would especially wonder why the ship's doctor was looking for T'Pol.  
  
Fortunately, he decided on a plan before even arriving on the deck, and was completely prepared by the time he reached the gym.   
  
He walked in and looked around. It was noisy, even thought it was not in use, and the smell was slightly unpleasant. He spotted a Vulcan standing near one of the consoles, their back to the door. He could tell immediately that this Vulcan was a male, and he decided to ignore his plan and just leave. After all, the Vulcan couldn't see him, and would have no idea who had just entered. 


	17. Chapter 16

A/N: Ok, that last chapter, and these next few are all REALLY short, so bare with me….  
  
Chapter Sixteen  
  
  
As he was looking through the Enterprise data logs, he heard the door opening behind him. He didn't turn around, hoping that the person would leave. He could already tell who it was. With his superior hearing, he could distinguish breathing from life form to life form, and this life form was easy to distinguish as the ship's Doctor.   
  
Since he knew that the Doctor had no need to speak with him, he simply searched through the Enterprise computer files for any relevant data. His 'wife' was already doing the same in the Sub-Commander's quarters.  
  
Suddenly he heard the footsteps going in the opposite direction and the door beginning to close again. He decided to risk exposure by turning around, his eyes reaching the door just in time to see the Doctor with what looked like a med kit in his hand. Indeed, the Doctor had no need to talk to him. He had much bigger things to deal with, such as Enterprise's science officer. They were looking for her, and the Doctor was among the searchers.   
  
Indeed, things were going well. 


	18. Chapter 17

A/N: Ok, this is the last short chapter… the next one is REALLY long….  
  
Chapter Seventeen  
  
The Captain rounded the corner to T'Pol's quarters. He took a deep breath, his finger suspended millimeters from the door chime. 'What if T'Pol's not in here?' he thought to himself. 'I'll just improvise,' he decided as she pushed the chime.  
  
"Enter," came a voice that was definitely not T'Pol's.  
  
'Time to improvise,' he thought as he opened the door and stepped inside. The quarters were clean and tidy, as usual, and one of the Vulcans was sitting at the small desk. He didn't see T'Pol anywhere, but decided not to make it obvious that he didn't know where she was. "Is T'Pol here?" he asked.  
  
"No. Is she not with your chief engineer?" One of the Vulcans told him, making it clear that it was not a question.  
  
Suddenly, he felt incredibly stupid, and knew that he had to get out, and fast. "Right. Sorry. I'd better go. Bye!" He said, exiting the small room and closing the door. 'What was I thinking?' he asked himself. He shook his head, ashamed of how stupid he'd just sounded, and walked off to his quarters to wait, hoping that the others had been more successful… 


	19. Chapter 18

A/N: I KNOW this took a long time to get typed up, but my fingers needed a break (I typed up 23 pages in about three weeks I think, so my fingers are about dead)…. So sorry this took so long…. But, on a positive note, you asked for a longer chapter, and I told you one was coming….. Well, HERE IT IS!!!!!! Read, enjoy, and review!!!! Please… after the long string of short chapters, I wanna know how our first LONG chapter measures up…… constructive stuff is appreciated….. Gracias….  
  
Chapter Eighteen  
  
  
As he walked toward the hydroponics bay, Trip hoped that he would be the one to find her. He didn't really know why. Maybe it was because he was the reason that she had left. He'd argued with her again. Why did he always have to do that? She had obviously been shaken, although she certainly tried to hide it. She was almost successful, what with all her arguments. But he knew her well enough to see that she'd been rattled.  
  
When he reached hydroponics, he walked inside slowly. He didn't want to startle whoever was in there. He looked around as he stood inside the door, but he couldn't see anyone. "Hello?" he yelled. There was no answer. "Hello?" he shouted again. Still no answer. "Anybody here?" When there was still no response, he decided to take a look around, in case T'Pol had passed out again. He looked around the plants and around the small room three times. Nothing… 'Maybe they left already.' he thought. He walked over to the comm panel and pushed the small intercom button. "Tucker to bridge."  
  
"What do you need, Commander?" Hoshi's voice came through the panel.   
  
"Hoshi, is there still a Vulcan biosign in hydroponics?"  
  
There was a short pause. "Yes."  
  
"Are ya sure? 'Cause that's where I am now, and I'm alone down here."  
  
"Well unless the sensors are malfunctioning, there's definitely someone else there." There was another short pause before she continued. "Why do you guys want ot know where the Vulcans are, anyway?" Are they doing something suspicious? Should I tell Malcolm to keep an eye on them?"  
  
He didn't expect her to ask so many questions. He probably should have, knowing Hoshi. But for some reason she caught him off guard. "No. We're just tryin' t' find 'em. Don't worry." He hoped that she'd believe him.  
  
Fortunately, she seemed to go for it. "Ok, but as soon as you need us to keep an eye on them, just call me and Malcolm'll be happy to oblige."  
  
This comment earned a chuckle from Trip as he responded. "I'm sure he would. Oh… why don't' ya check on those sensors for the time bein'. Tucker out." He turned off the comm before she could respond. "T'Pol? Anyone. Hello? He called again.  
  
No one answered. He decided to walk around the room again. As he was walking, he contemplated getting a scanner to check the room. There was really no one there. As he was a bout to leave the room to get a scanner, he noticed something that should be fixed. There was a row of storage cabinets along one wall of the room. And one of the doors was slightly opened. He was ready to close the cracked door, but when he pushed it closed, it wouldn't latch. He looked down at the door frame to see if there was something caught in it. There was… a piece of fabric or something like it. He leaned down to pull it out when he realized what it was.  
  
He had been expecting some glove or towel. But instead, he found a robe…. A Vulcan robe. He slammed the door open against the neighboring cabinet. He was nervous as he followed the robe to a face. As he had feared, the small face belonged to T'Pol. As soon as he realized this, he panicked, immediately placing his hands and arms under her and carrying her out. He set her on the floor near the cabinet. He immediately checked her pulse and breathing. He was relieved to find her alive, just unconscious. He patted all of his pockets before he remembered that the hypospray was still with T'Pol. He had given it to her the night before and she had kept it.  
  
He quickly looked for the hypospray, in order to insure that no Vulcan would find her unconscious. He found it concealed within her robes on the small belt around her waist. He was about to inject her with the medication when he felt something wet on his right hand . He opened it up and looked down. He hand was covered in a green liquid. He jumped back from T'Pol and looked down at the hypospray. Sure enough, it was also covered in the same green liquid, as was his right forearm and his left hand. He had been in such a hurry to find the hypospray and use it one her that he hadn't paid any attention to the hypospray itself.  
  
In fact, he was panicking so badly at the concept of finding some weird green liquid all over him that he didn't at first register what it could be. Then it suddenly hit him. "Damn!" he yelled. He went back to T'Pol and moved her robe out of the way to reveal the place where the hypospray had been. And sure enough, ads he had just suspected, her side was completely covered in her own blood.  
  
  
A/N2: ok, we decided we'd cut ya off here instead, even though the original version was WAY, WAY long….. So just for added suspense, we'll cut ya off early and make the NEXT chapter REALLY, REALLY long instead….. K? 


	20. Chapter 19

A/N: Ok, here it is.. I know this was supposed to be in the promised chapter last time… but here's our REALLY, REALLY long chappy…….. 17 pages on written paper!!! So enjoy!!!!! R&R por favor!!!!!   
  
Chapter Nineteen  
  
  
He looked at eh spot where most of the blood appeared to be located and found a small tear in her robe surrounding it. He quickly looked around for a med kit and finally found one on the other side of the bay. "Be right back. Stay there," he told her unconscious form.  
  
He bolted across the room and grabbed the med kit, darting back to her. "Good girl," he mumbled while opening up the med kit. Once opened, he found that almost all of the contents had been removed, except for some gauze and a topical burn ointment. He took the gauze and realized the tear in her robe was too small. He set down the gauze and decided to open the robe a little more to reveal the wound.   
  
He tore back enough to see it clearly. As soon as he was finished, he wished he hadn't. There was a deep, bloody gouge along the right side of her body, extending all the way from her armpit to her thigh. He realized that the gauze would not cover the whole wound, but wrapped what he had around her anyway. Once finished, it covered from her armpit to the top of her ribcage, leaving half of the wound uncovered.   
  
He reached over to grab the hypospray that he'd set on the floor and wiped it off on his jumpsuit. He nearly injected her with it, but remembered a rhyme from his basic first aid class.   
  
*Never neglect a passed out one  
By giving them an injection*  
  
'Damn. Never thought I'd remember that stupid rhyme,' he thought. Setting the hypospray, he contemplated what to do. He could inject her with the hypospray, but since he had no idea as to its contents, he could wind up causing her body to go into shock--or worse. He could choose not to wake her with the hypospray and instead use the old fashioned way. Or, of course, he could always carry her to sickbay… but with those Vulcans around the ship, he was bound to run into one of them on the way. Besides, her injuries were too severe. He would probably end up causing her further injury.  
  
After contemplating what to do and glancing back and forth between the door, the hypospray, and T'Pol, he finally opted to do things the old fashioned way. He leaned in near her face and grabbed her shoulders gently. "Wake up!" he yelled, as loudly as he could manage while shaking her by the shoulders.  
  
It was a welcome sight as T'Pol's eyes fluttered with the promise of oncoming consciousness.   
  
"Come on T'Pol, wake up," he said more quietly. She didn't seem to respond to this and again nearly slipped back into unconsciousness. He shook her again, a bit more violently. "Wake up, Sub-commander!" He shouted sternly.  
  
Her eyes again fluttered, opening slowly at long last.  
  
Once she was slightly aware of her surroundings, she blinked, realizing that all she could see was two big blue eyes staring into hers. Startled, she let out a tiny squeak.  
  
"Oh… sorry." he said, backing up slightly but keeping his hands on her shoulders to keep her from sitting on her own.  
  
"Commander?" She asked, only half-conscious.  
  
"Yeah," he told her, assuming that she was fully conscious. "What the hell were you thinking… going into that storage locker?" He decided that he could help her sit up now and assisted her by putting one hand behind her back and the other on her left arm.  
  
She looked confused and she could barely hold her own head up as she sat. "What?" she asked.  
  
He moved his left hand from her back to her head and wrapped his right around her more to hold her up. "Why were you in there?" he asked her, turning her head toward the storage locker, suddenly realizing that he had been wrong, and that she was not thinking clearly.  
  
She stared at it for a moment before answering. "Hiding…" she said slowly. He waited for more. When she remained silent, he turned her head back around gently so that she was facing him again.  
  
"From what?"   
  
She gave him that confused look again. "What were you hiding from?" He asked again.  
  
Once again, it took her a moment to answer. "Vul… cans," she managed at last. She was talking very slowly and softly. That made him nervous.  
  
"Why were you hiding from the Vulcans?" He asked her.  
  
"Vulcans… don't… snoop," she mumbled.  
  
"What?!" he exclaimed.  
  
"I… was… wrong," she said, breaking up her words. It was a clear sign of her nearly unconscious state. She seemed to fade more and more with each word, and her head seemed heavier with each passing second.  
  
He shook her again. "T'Pol!" he yelled. He didn't know about Vulcans, but he'd heard of humans in similar situations who'd slipped into comas if they fell unconscious, and he wasn't going to let that happen to her.  
  
Fortunately, she woke up slightly and lifted her head a little to look at him. He went back to holding her as he had been before, fully aware that he blood was getting all over him and that if she were fully awake, she would tell him not to hold her that way. But he could tell that she was very close to unconscious. He could also tell that he needed to get Doctor Phlox there as quickly as possible. He almost got up when he realized that leaving her here would most likely result in her return to unconsciousness, and he didn't want that to happen. So he needed to figure out how to get her to the comm panel by the door.  
  
He opted to carry her considering that she wasn't that heavy and couldn't even hold her own head up for very long, let alone her whole body. She was still staring at him when he decided to fill her in on his plan. "T'Pol," he said gently, making sure she could hear him and understand. "I'm gonna carry ya over there." He pointed her head toward the door and her eyes lazily focused in that direction. When he was satisfied that she understood, he put his right arm under her knees and his left arm under her back. As soon as he began to lift her off the ground, her head flopped back, now seemingly about as stiff as wet pasta. Her arms also fell limp.  
  
He knew that wasn't a good sign. He set her back on the ground again. Then he lifted her head up with one hand and lifted her back with his other. "T'Pol!" he yelled. "I need ya t' stay with me, T'Pol. Wake up. I need ya to stay awake." Her eyes, which had all but completely closed, fluttered back open. "T'Pol, do you hear me? I need ya t' stay awake 'til the Doc gets here." When she seemed to acknowledge, he continued. "Now, I need ya t' put your arms around my neck, and I'll carry you. Okay?"  
  
"That… would… be… inappropriate…" she said after a pause.  
  
"T'Pol, just do what I say for once, would ya." He was too frustrated by her current condition to even bother asking what she considered inappropriate. Considering her seemingly delusional state, it would be a wonder if she even knew what she was saying. Fortunately, she complied this time, albeit a bit slowly. He picked her up again, and she seemed heavier than she had been only a minute earlier.  
  
Even with that added weight, however, she was still very light and he easily moved her without further incident. He set her down gently against the wall.  
  
Once he was confident that she wouldn't fall over onto her side while he was calling the Doctor, he stood and pushed the intercom button on the panel next to the door. "Tucker to Doctor Phlox." As he waited a moment, he glanced down at T'Pol.  
  
"Phlox here, Commander."  
  
"I'm in hydroponics, and you'd better get down here with a medkit, Doc." He looked back down at T'Pol again, relieved to see that her eyes were still open and she hadn't slumped over yet.  
  
"May I ask what the emergency is?" Phlox's voice came through the speaker.  
  
He didn't know quite what to tell the Doctor. He didn't know exactly what had happened. He figured that saying only what he knew for sure was probably best. "It's T'Pol, Doc. She's got a giant gash in 'er side an' she keeps fadin' in an' out of consciousness. I'd take 'er t' sickbay, but I don't wanna move 'er in case it isn't safe."  
  
"You're right, Commander. I'll be there as soon as possible. Phlox out."  
  
With that, his focus went back to T'Pol. She was beginning to fade again. He grabbed her head by putting one hand under her chin and turned her toward him again. "T'Pol!" he yelled. She opened her eyes slightly. Knowing he'd at least gotten her attention, he began speaking at a more gentle volume. "Stay awake." He had to keep her occupied somehow. "You have to answer a few questions for me." This seemed to work, as it resulted in more of her attention towards him. He had to think of something for her to answer… and fast. "Okay, T'Pol. Tell me…. What's… two plus two?"  
  
She gave him that 'what kind of a question is that' look. Or at least, as close as she could come to it while being half-unconscious. But even with the look, he wasn't too sure that she could answer it correctly, considering the way she'd answered him just five minutes earlier. To his surprise, she mumbled after a long silence, "Four."  
  
"Good!" He was genuinely proud that she could answer it correctly considering. "Now, let's try something harder… how 'bout… five times five."  
  
"Twenty-five," she answered, almost inaudibly.  
  
"What was that?" he asked, coaxing her to speak more loudly. He could hear her, of course, but he knew that she had to be more alert in order to speak louder, and he needed her more alert.  
  
"What?" she asked, not any louder.   
  
"What did you say? I couldn't hear you," he lied, hoping she would understand.  
  
"Twenty… five," she answered him again. She had been louder, but also slower.  
  
"Alright," he said quickly, not wanting to lose her attention. "Try this… what's the square root of…" he paused to think of a slightly harder number. "…of one hundred and twenty one?"  
  
He expected her to answer him fairly quickly, as she had for the last two questions, but instead he just got a blank stare… to his immense disappointment.  
  
"Think, T'Pol," he encouraged.  
  
She continued to stare further. He looked directly into her eyes, hoping to see if he even had her attention anymore. It was obvious that he didn't. She was staring at a console on the other side of the room. "Vulcans… don't… snoop…"  
  
"What are you talking about, T'Pol?"  
  
"Vulcans… don't…" she began again.  
  
"T'Pol? T'Pol?" It seemed he'd lost her attention completely this time. He needed to get it back. The Doctor was still several minutes away, and she was quickly fading. Her skin was very pale, she couldn't even hold her own head up anymore, and she didn't seem to understand what was going on around her. He was no doctor, but he knew that all three of those things were bad signs.  
  
He had to think quickly. He needed to figure out how to get back the sub-commander's attention before it was too late and she slipped into a coma. And before she dies. 'No! Can't think about that,' he scolded himself. He figured doing what he'd been doing was probably best. He grabbed her shoulder with one hand, while still keeping his other hand under her chin--holding her head up.  
  
He shook her shoulder. Her eyes, which were only slits, began to flutter slightly, but stopped moments later. HE kept shaking her. "T'Pol!" He yelled. Once again, her eyes only fluttered. "T'Pol! T'Pol, listen to me. Open your eyes, T'Pol!" Still only slight fluttering resulted. 'Well, I guess that particular old fashioned way isn't going to work,' he thought to himself. 'An' she wouldn't like it if I tried the other old fashioned way.' He laughed a little at this last thought, almost surprising himself. Then, he was usually the one who tried to stay optimistic even in the worst possible scenarios. Still, he was surprised that he had allowed himself to ignore her for a moment to make a humorous retort, albeit to himself.  
  
He focused again on her. He glanced down at the gauze covering her wound. It was completely soaked with blood, as was the surrounding area. It was immediately clear why she was in such bad shape. She was losing blood fast. As he was looking at her wound, he realized something. He could no longer hear her breathing! He leaned his ear next to her face, but still nothing. She wasn't breathing. After checking for a pulse, he realized that her heart wasn't beating either. "Damn!" he yelled to no one in particular.  
  
He couldn't believe he'd let this happen. T'Pol was clinically dead.  
  
  
YAY!!!! i finally finished THIS CHAPPY... (story still has WAY more than half to go) AND i left you guys hanging..... double-wammy 


	21. Chapter 20

A/N: I am trying to get this up as soon as possible…. I have some extra time today, so….. Well… hope you guys still like the story….. Hope I didn't lose about a million readers after the end of the last chapter….. Once again.. Sorry bout the mix-up…. BTW: I will SAY "THE END" when it is the end…… so no more thinking I'm done unless I say so…. Got it….?????  
  
  
Chapter 20  
  
He lowered her to the ground as fast as he could without dropping her. Then he tried to remember exactly what to do. His heart was pounding against his chest and his brain suddenly went blank. He suddenly felt that everything, including himself, was completely hopeless. His memory was not working and the only things that he could think of involved some kind of hitting, or was it pounding, or was it something else. And there was something about breathing. "Why the hell can't I think of what t' do?" He scolded himself aloud in agitation. He silently cursed himself for not being able to think clearly.  
  
He again wracked his brain for something to do. But after thinking up and dismissing many random thoughts, he found himself at a panicked loss. He couldn't think of what to do. Until suddenly, he didn't really know why, he remembered a poem from college. His roommate had taken anatomy and health classes one quarter, and he'd need to memorize some stuff for an exam. So he'd used these stupid rhymes. At the time, he'd tried everything that he could think of to get the guy to shut up. But now, as he remembered the poem, he silently thanked the guy.  
  
"Once you know,  
Go ahead and blow.  
Then if there's no beat,  
Push the chest and repeat."  
  
As stupid as the little rhyme was, remembering it suddenly relieved him of all panic and he knew exactly what to do. Opening her mouth and tipping her head back gently, he put his mouth down near hers. He blew several quick breaths into her mouth. Then he completed the CPR procedure with several quick thrusts just below her chest. He then leaned down to check whether she was breathing yet. She wasn't. 'Where's the Doc? He should be here by now,' he thought as he gave her more breaths. Even as he was continuing the procedure, he vowed not to let her die like this.   
  
He continued the procedure what seemed like a million times, but each time seemed infinitely more futile. It seemed as if he was doing nothing for her, and he was beginning to wonder if he'd be the cause of her death. It was his fault, after all, for panicking about T'Pol. And since he panicked, he had waited for what seemed like way too long before beginning CPR. But now, it seemed as if he'd been performing CPR for hours, even though it had only been about 45 seconds. As he leaned down to give her more air again, he hoped, as he had every time, that this attempt would be successful… that she would come back to life and he would be able to apologize to her.   
  
This attempt, however, was no more successful than those before it, and he once again continued as his mind wandered back to how this could have been avoided. He could have kept his big mouth shut in the first place and instead just listened to everything that she had to say. But no; he'd had to argue with her again.   
  
But now, several more seconds and several failed attempts to wake her had passed, and he was once again trying to breathe into her lungs. He was ready to thrust again when he saw something out of the corner of his eye. He pulled back, hoping beyond hope that he'd seen what he thought he had.  
  
He looked on as she gasped for air. She was breathing! He looked up, hoping that someone was up there listening. "Thank you!" he said aloud. He reached down to pick her up, noting that she was still very limp, and lifted her into a sitting position. She opened her eyes weakly and stared into his eyes. He stared back, noting that she still looked a universe away and was still having trouble breathing. But at the same time, she looked closer and stronger than she had just several minutes earlier.  
  
He brought her closer to him and put his arms around her, realizing that she was trembling slightly, but also wanting to comfort her and make sure that he could hear her gently heartbeat for fear of losing her again. He was also relieved that, although she was no longer directly in front of him, she never lost eye contact. He realized that she was probably doing it unintentionally, but it still comforted him knowing that she was still conscious-- and still alive.  
  
As he gazed into her unblinking eyes, he began to wonder what was going on. Why she'd been in that storage closet in the first place. And how she'd managed to become seriously wounded while inside. She had mentioned Vulcans, but he knew that she had most likely said it only due to her current state of mind. She had been drifting out of consciousness at the time, after all. She would have no reason to hide form the Vulcans on the ship anyway. They didn't know anything about her pregnancy. And as she had repeated many times, Vulcans don't snoop. So he was only left with the same original question: what was really going on?  
  
He was brought back to reality by T'Pol's weak voice. "I-" she attempted.  
  
"What d' ya need?" he asked her.  
  
"Help…m-" she managed.  
  
"With what? What d' ya need me t' help you with?"  
  
There was a pause as she breathed in as much air as she could. "Help…" she repeated. It seemed that even that one word exhausted her, and she again had to catch her breath.  
  
He realized then and there that she was helpless for probably the first time since, well, childhood. And she knew it too. She knew that he was the only one who could help her until Phlox arrived.  
  
Again, Trip's mind wandered and he wondered where Doctor Phlox was, and why he was taking so long. He looked at a clock, realizing that it had only been about three minutes since he had contacted the Doctor. It had seemed like hours.  
  
He was glad that T'Pol, at least, did not know that Phlox was taking too long. In her current mental state, he didn't know how she would react to that knowledge. He certainly didn't want to make her worry. Normally, he knew, she never worried about anything. But at that moment… well, only time would tell.  
  
He felt her begin trembling again and he pulled her closer, wanting to keep safe and secure as much as possible. "Don't worry," he told her reassuringly. "Doctor Phlox is on 'is way. He'll be here soon."  
  
She didn't seem to register this at first. However, after a moment she visibly relaxed, leaving him to the task of holding her upright. When he realized this, he gripped her more tightly, pulling her in closer and hoping that she wouldn't resist and cause herself more stress. Fortunately, she didn't. Instead of resisting, she actually relaxed further, and he again increased his grip in return.  
  
He was glad that she wasn't wasting any energy resisting his hold on her, but hoped that she wouldn't become so relaxed that she slipped into unconsciousness again. Fortunately, that didn't seem to be happening either, and he allowed her to relax once again. He was going to increase hi hold again but decided against it. He was comfortable now, and she seemed to be as well.  
  
He didn't really know why he was so comfortable. Normally he would have been extremely uncomfortable in this situation. He was sweaty from stress and covered in her blood. She had nearly died, and he had barely been able to save her. He should have been more stressed and worried. Somehow, though, he wasn't. He didn't even know why. Perhaps since he had saved her life, albeit barely, and she was now looking to him for comfort and support, he was subconsciously allowing himself to- 'No, it couldn't be that,' he thought, cutting off his own thoughts. He wouldn't let himself consider that. Not with her. She was a Vulcan and would never do the same.  
  
But at least she would not leave him this time, and he found comfort in that. He relaxed again, not losing grip of her, and continued to gaze into her oh-so-far-away eyes. And he found that they weren't so far away.  
  
A/N2: See???? I already added a bit of shippy… hey… give me a break… it's HARD to add shippy when one of the people involved is half-conscious….. Let alone when they were basically dead at the end of the last chappy…… anyway, there is more shippiness to come later…. Don't you fear……  
  
A/N3: ok, people…. So, does NO ONE believe in reviewing anymore (or does my story just suck now)…… please tell me……. If it sucks, please tell me what to change and I'll try to change it….. Just review or I will never know what you people want….. 


	22. Chapter 21

A/N: I KNOW that it is VERY unlikely that this first part would ever happen-the Doc is very dedicated… but it was necessary in order for the length of time which the last two chappys took up would make sense….  
  
Chapter 21  
  
  
He had wanted to start for hydroponics as soon as he'd received the Commander's urgent call. Unfortunately, he hadn't been able to find a necessary piece of medical equipment. Finally, he decided to leave without it, realizing that a precious three minutes had been wasted looking for the instrument.   
  
He walked as quickly as possible, stopping only to wait for the turbolift, and arrived in hydroponics a minute later.  
  
He walked in to the room and immediately saw Commander Tucker and Sub-Commander T'Pol near the door. He was holding her carefully in his lap and she appeared to be close to unconsciousness. When the door had opened, he expected to hear some kind of urgent outburst from the chief engineer. But instead, he didn't hear anything and the man didn't even move.  
  
This was certainly odd, but he didn't waste any time thinking about the odd behavior. He ran right to the pair and kneeled beside them. He immediately took out a scanner and began his task.  
  
"How is she, Doc?" Commander Tucker asked him, not moving his head to look at Phlox. Once again, this seemed odd, but he shrugged it off and completed his scans.  
  
"She has a concussion. And, as I'm sure you've already noticed, she has a deep wound on her right side. She has lost a dangerously high amount of blood."  
  
"What about the babies, Doc?"  
  
He ran another scan. "They're fine," he answered. "In fact, her body is working so hard to protect them that her own vital systems are being compromised."  
  
For the first time, the Commander moved his head to look at the doctor. "She'd not gonna die, is she?" His face showed an array of emotions-- pain, guilt, concern, fear, and apprehension.  
  
"I do not believe so. But she won't live if you leave her here. Normally I would give her something for the pain, but in her condition I wouldn't recommend it until we get to sickbay." Trip became visibly more worried and more full of guilt. "You were wise not to bring her to sickbay without asking me first, but we must take her there now. Can you carry her?"  
  
Trip, seemingly relieved that he hadn't caused her near-death by neglecting to take her to sickbay, nodded. "Sure thing. Do you know how this coulda happened?"  
  
"I wish I could say," the Doctor responded regretfully. "Don't you have any idea?"  
  
"'Fraid not. When I got here, she was in that storage locker over there." He pointed to it with his head since his hands were being used to hold T'Pol.  
  
"Hmm… how did she get in there in the first place?"  
  
"Don't ask me. I tried askin' her, but she was nearly out her answers didn't make a whole lot of sense."  
  
Phlox seemed to ponder that for a moment. "Well in any case, we need to get her to sickbay as soon as possible."  
  
"Right." He picked her up gently, trying to avoid injuring her further, and stood up carefully. "We'd better hurry down there. We could run into dozens of crewmembers before we reach sickbay. And they're all gonna want t' know why I'm carryin' T'Pol t' sickbay."  
  
"I hadn't considered that," the Doctor admitted. But he shrugged it off. "I am sure we can, what is it humans say, 'cross that road when we come to it'… hm!" He just couldn't seem to stop being cheerful, even in the worst situations.  
  
"Bridge," Trip corrected.  
  
"Excuse me?"  
  
"Bridge… cross that BRIDGE-- oh, never mind," he sighed, realizing that explaining to the Doctor would mean more time to reach sickbay.  
  
"Very well," the Doctor shrugged, not wanting to press the issue and waste more time.  
  
"Well let's go, Doc." Doctor Phlox nodded in agreement and opened the door, checking outside before giving Trip the 'all clear' nod. Trip made sure that he didn't shake or rock T'Pol too badly, which meant that he had to walk extremely carefully, yet quickly. "Ya know, I've been carryin' T'Pol t' sickbay a lot in the last few days. Do you think anyone's wonderin' why?"  
  
As the two of them continued to walk together, Phlox just checking around each corner before Trip turned, the Doctor seemed to think about that question. "It's hard to say," he replied at last. "I haven't heard anything as far as rumors are concerned. But perhaps some of the more… talkative crewmembers simply haven't seen you. I'm sure that a few crewmembers, at least, have noticed some of the Sub-Commander's odd behavior--not to mention her change in attire--and are probably curious. But I do believe it's too hard to say whether enough people will find out to be dangerous for either of you."  
  
"What about the other Vulcans? Do ya think they know? I mean, T'Pol says Vulcans don't snoop, but that doesn't mean they wouldn't notice differences in her behavior. And if people on Enterprise are even noticing', then her own family is goin' t' figure it out." His voice was again filled with a mix of concern, guilt, and fear.  
  
"I agree. We must attempt to remove them from Enterprise as soon as possible. The longer they are aboard, the more likely it is that they will find out."  
  
Trip looked down at T'Pol again, as he had in hydroponics. He would do everything in his power to protect her from anything--including everything that was sure to happen if any other Vulcans found out about her situation. But the fact that the visiting Vulcans were her PARENTS coming to tell her to get married only made things that much harder, and he was afraid that he whatever he could do would not be enough.  
  
Suddenly, he noticed T'Pol shift slightly in his arms. Her movement was barely noticeable, but he could tell that she had, most likely either subconsciously or accidentally, moved closer to him. He moved her slightly as well, so that carrying her was easier. She was now snuggled against him comfortably and staring at him. He wanted to stare back, but knew that anyone passing would notice immediately. Then the ship's gossip would take an unexpected turn for the worse. 


	23. Chapter 22

A/N: ok, this chapter is only four paragraphs, but don't shoot me… I couldn't combine it with anything else…  
  
Chapter 22  
  
  
"Phlox to Captain Archer," he heard over the comm. As he walked over to the panel to push the 'respond' button, he wondered what had happened which not only caused the normally cheerful doctor to sound worried, but also warranted a call in that tone.  
  
"What is it, Doctor?" he asked after pressing the correct button next to his quarters' door.  
  
"I need you to come to sickbay immediately, Captain. Sub-Commander T'Pol has been seriously injured," the Doctor said urgently.  
  
Noting the tone of voice, he didn't even think about his response. "I'm on my way." He turned the comm off, not even giving the Doctor a chance to respond  
  
  
A/N2: ok... sorry to EVERYONE about the bad first aid on trip's part...... i do, however, have an explanation....... trip is an engineer so i am ASSUMING for this fic that he hasn't spent most of his time taking first aid classes....... so such things are NOT fresh in his mind...  
  
  
also, he's supposed to be so shocked and preoccupied that he isn't really thinking straight.... so add that to not taking many classes and you've got a trip with REALLY bad first aid skills....  
  
i mean, i took first aid and CPR classes several times within no more than three or four years ago and even I couldn't remember CPR and first aid for this fic...... i had to look up the CPR stuff and assume trip didn't know any more than i did for the other stuff...... so again... sorry if the first aid stuff was so bad that you've stopped reading the story..... hope you still read....   
  
and BTW, several people have guessed VERY accurately what the "big secret" of the story is....if anyone else wants to guess go on ahead and send me an email...... once you find out, you will probably smack your head and go "duh!" because it is so blindingly obvious.... 


	24. Chapter 23

A/N: ok, sorry this took so long.. We try to get a chappy up every Saturday, but I was busy yesterday so I didn't get the chance to… Sorry… well it's here now.  
  
Chapter 23  
  
He walked toward sickbay in an urgent manner, hoping that he didn't alert anyone on the way there to his destination. After walking quickly for less than two minutes, he arrived at the door. He stopped only to open it and walked in, questions filling his head. "What's wrong with T'Pol, Doctor?" he asked.   
  
The Denobulan looked up from T'Pol for only a moment before returning to her. "As I told you, Captain, her injuries are severe. I believe Commander Tucker can explain to you what happened. Right now I must try to stabilize her."  
  
For the first time, he looked at T'Pol, walking to join Trip by her bedside. She appeared to be attached to every life-support device in sickbay. She had blood all over most of her upper body and her uniform was torn off the right side of her body. As he continued to survey T'Pol's condition, Trip began to explain. "I found 'er in one of the storage lockers in hydroponics. She was unconscious, and I figured it was 'cause of what the Doc told me--about her faintin' a lot for the next ten months…" he trailed off, seemingly slowing his unusually sad and regretful tone even more than he already had. "But when I was about t' inject 'er with the hypospray, I noticed the blood… then I saw the gash…" he was obviously pained by this story, not wishing to relive it but knowing that he had to get it out eventually. "Then I woke 'er up and moved 'er an' called the Doc. When I was waitin' for 'im t' show up, she…" Trip seemed even more uncomfortable now, and the Captain noticed that his drawl was more apparent than usual. He didn't really know why, but it was obvious. As Trip paused this time, the Captain took the opportunity to look over at the chief engineer. Trip was covered in T'Pol's blood, although the green liquid was present less on him than it was on T'Pol. He was no doctor, but the Captain knew that if she had lost enough blood for it to also be all over Trip, that it was extremely dangerous, if not fatal.   
  
Fortunately, he didn't have time to think about that as Trip finally finished. "…She, I mean, her heart stopped and so did 'er breathin'. IT took me about twenty or thirty seconds just t' remember what t' do. When I finally remembered t' do CPR, it was nearly too late." Again, he paused, this time turning to the Captain and seemingly getting agitated. "It took me 45 seconds t' revive 'er, Cap'n… 45 seconds! She coulda died! An' all because I took too long figurin' out what t' do. An' now he might die again! Hell, if it weren't for me, she never would have gone in there in the first place and she'd be fine! Instead, I had t' argue with 'er, and now she's gonna die!" Trip's face was red with anger, either at himself or the world--the Captain couldn't tell, and He was pacing around the room nervously. His friend rarely got like this. In fact, he almost NEVER got like this. It had only happened once or twice before--him getting emotional like this, anyway. He only did this when He was in danger of losing someone He cared about, and He definitely cared about T'Pol.  
  
"Trip," He said compassionately, trying to calm his friend down. The Captain then moved to Trip and put his hand on his friend's shoulder. "This isn't your fault, and she's not going to die. We don't even know how this happened to her. That is, unless you left something out amidst your 'I killed T'Pol' speech." He added this late comment with a note of humor in his voice, although after looking at Trip's anything-but-humored expression, He immediately took it back. "Sorry, Trip. I didn't mean it. " Trip nodded, knowing that he was being truthful. "Now listen to me. I'm not going to let T'Pol die on this ship. Not now, not ever. So don't blame yourself for something that hasn't even happened yet."  
  
He got a reluctant nod in response from Trip, whose face returned slowly to its normal shade. When Trip backed off slowly and returned to T'Pol's side, the Captain followed, actually eager to seek a professional opinion. "Doctor," He queried as He turned back to T'Pol, then to Phlox. "What's her condition?"  
  
For one of the first times, Phlox began speaking in a not-so-optimistic tone. It sounded like regret, apology, and sincerity all rolled into one. "As I'm sure you have noted, she can no longer support her own heart or lungs. Therefore I have placed her on various life-support systems in an attempt to save her life. I have stabilized her for now, and have begun running scans to locate the problem." The Doctor stopped, seemingly not wanting to continue.  
  
"And...?" He prompted.  
  
"And, as I suspected in my initial scans, she has less than one third of her normal circulated blood. Most Vulcans would be dead by now, even on life-support. Contrary to Mr. Tucker's insistence that she will die, I must admit that I don't know at this point. I have given her several injections for both pain and repair of her wound. The wound seemed to be healing at a steady rate, although it will most likely take several days to heal completely, then another few weeks before the pain subsides."  
  
"Doctor," He said, nearly cutting the man off. "What can we do for her now?"  
  
"I'm not exactly certain. She clearly needs more blood, but I can't tell you much beyond that without more data on how this happened to her."  
  
"And you can't wake her?"  
  
"I'm afraid not. It's too dangerous in her current condition."  
  
"Well, can't you just give her more blood? You can do THAT without asking her what happened."  
  
"Of course. But there's a problem, Captain. You see... I have no blood to give her."  
  
  
A/N2: HAHAHA.... I'm cutting you off again…. Actually I just didn't have time to type up the whole chappy and this was the best place to cut it off for now…. Sorry folks… just R&R!!!! 


	25. Chapter 24

A/N: alrighty folks.. This is the longest you have EVER had to wait for a chappy… I try to one a week but last weekend I had a HUGE paper to write and I had NO time to type.. So this weekend I'll be nice and COMBINE chappys… just like you've been telling me to do!!!!  
  
Chapter 24  
  
"What?!" Trip yelled. "You've got about t million animals but no blood?!" His face had turned a bright red with frustration and anger, and became more so with each passing moment. He was beating himself up over this and letting his anger out on everyone else.  
  
"Trip," the captain scolded in an authoritative yet compassionate tone. "Let the Doctor finish. And calm down. Yelling isn't going to take her off life-support any faster."  
  
His words calmed Trip down and he nodded, returning to a more normal shade at the same time. When he was sure Trip wouldn't explode again, he continued. "Are you saying that we left space dock without ANY replacement blood?"  
  
"No. Not exactly. You see, we have a large store of human blood. However, we were never given any Vulcan blood before leaving--there was no need."  
  
"What do you mean: 'there was no need to'?" he asked puzzled.  
  
"As you will recall, the sub-commander was originally assigned to Enterprise for only eight days. I assumed, that replacement blood would not be needed on an eight day mission. My superiors agreed, so I was told not to bring any unless the Vulcans told me otherwise." The Doctor sounded very apologetic. "I'm sorry, Captain. Once I learned of her extended assignment, I should have requested some, but I'm afraid it slipped my mind."  
  
"It's alright, Doctor. There's no point in beating yourself up over this. There's nothing you can do about that now." He thought for a moment. "is there any way to get blood here fast enough?"  
  
"I don't see how, Captain."  
  
"What about givin' 'er some human blood--just until we can get 'er some of the green variety?" Trip asked, looking hopeful yet prepared for disappointment.  
  
"I'm afraid, considering her experience with the human and Vulcan DNA problems, that Vulcan blood is the only viable option. I believe any attempt to replace her blood using human blood could be dangerous."  
  
"What about getting some blood from her Vulcan friends. They so graciously graced us with their presence… they may as well be good for something!" Captain Archer said with a twinge of irritation in his voice.  
  
"We already thought of that, Cap'n, but if at all possible we'd rather leave that as a last resort," Trip told him matter-of-factly.  
  
"Mind if I ask why? It could save her life!" he reminded.  
  
"I know that if T'Pol were awake, she wouldn't want the Vulcans to know what was going on, and if we start asking them to give us blood they're gonna wanna know why." he pointed out.  
  
Defeated once again, the Captain thought for a minute, glancing at T'Pol every now and then. Trip was right. She wouldn't want the Vulcans to know of her injury because they would eventually discover her other medical problem. Well, it would a problem in THEIR opinion at least. The Vulcans would cart her away in that-- then it hit him. "The Vulcan ship!" he exclaimed suddenly.  
  
He got blank stares from both other men. Obviously they had no idea what he was talking about. He decided to clarify. "The Vulcan ship that's docked with us. They've got to have some blood that they could give us without too many questions."  
  
Trip thought about this for a minute. "What makes ya think they won't tell our little Vulcan friends that we got blood from 'em?"  
  
"Phlox spoke in response. "I can simply tell them that we have none on board that we need some in case it is needed."  
  
"And if they ask why we didn't get any from one of the other Vulcan ships?"  
  
"I'll tell them that I forgot to ask."  
  
"But knowin' Vulcans, our guests'll figure out why we need it now. I mean, think about it, Doc. First T'Pol starts wearin' something' different, then I keep carryin' 'er t' sickbay. Then she doesn't show up at 'er station for a while, and at the same time we suddenly ask 'em for blood. That would even make ME suspicious."  
  
Suddenly the Captain got angry. He didn't know why, but something was just bugging him all of a sudden. "Would you rather have the Vulcans get suspicious or have your friend die?!" the Captain shouted at Trip.   
  
"I'd rather that the Vulcans weren't even here!" Trip was now yelling loudly as well.  
  
"You didn't answer my question!"  
  
"Yeah I did! I just came up with my own answer!" He got up in the captain's face. Phlox was left staring at them, wondering why they were suddenly so furious with one another.   
  
"You just don't want to admit how you feel about her!" the captain shouted back, suddenly realizing what had been bothering him.  
  
"What the HELL is that supposed t' mean?!" Trip screamed back, caught very off guard.  
  
"Gentleman, this is not going to help the sub-commander in any way," Phlox interrupted before the captain could say something that he may regret later.  
  
Unfortunately, the pair completely ignored him. "Don't try to deny it! I've seen the way you act around her; the way you look at her! It's obvious, Trip! I'm sure everyone on the ship has noticed by now!"  
  
"Noticed WHAT?! There's nothin' for anyone TO notice!"  
  
The captain just stood there, eyes locked with Tucker's, neither wavering. After about a minute of staring-contest silence, it looked like the engineer might actually give in.  
  
"What about the blood, Captain? Can we get it now? Sooner than later would be best." the Doctor interjected, not wanting two more patients.  
  
This last comment managed to distract both men from their argument. "Feel free to call them now, Doctor," the captain shouted, waving him off. After a menacing you-know-what-I-mean-and-you-know-I'm-right look at Trip, he stormed off. "I'll be in my quarters!" he yelled back at them as the doors closed.  
  
After a few minutes of fuming, trip looked back at T'Pol. "tell me if anything changes," he told Phlox, his voice bubbling over in anger. He quickly made his way to the door and marched off to engineering.   
  
Sickbay was suddenly very empty, leaving Doctor Phlox to care for T'Pol in silence.  
  
  
**********************************  
  
  
As he made his way to his quarters, he willed himself to stop clenching and un-clenching his fists, but his muscles wouldn't comply. He wasn't sure what irritated him more: the fact hat Trip had feelings for T'Pol or the fact that wouldn't admit it.  
  
"Maybe he's trying to protect himself from his own feelings," he accidentally muttered to himself as a confused crewman walked past him. "But he's not one to hide that kind of thing…" he muttered again, entering the turbolift.  
  
He was relieved when no one followed him into the lift. He closed the door, allowed the turbolift to move between two decks, and halted the movement. He leaned against the back of the lift and relaxed a little. Why was this bothering him so much? He suspected that it had the stem of some bigger fear hiding in the back of his mind. Or maybe it was because Phlox had told HIM the same things about a year ago. Either way, he had to try to find out. He contemplated this for several minutes.  
  
Finally it hit him: the root of all his irritation. Trip had been quite protective, even possessive, of T'Pol ever since T'Pol had informed them of her pregnancy. Trip'd said himself that he'd been alone with T'Pol for two nights on an alien planet. Then he remembered something else about that away mission--it had been raining, and T'Pol wouldn't have had any fire to meditate with… if he remembered correctly what T'Pol had told him, Vulcans had problems with their emotions when they didn't meditate. And being alone with someone like Trip--who had feelings for her… well, it take an idiot to put two and two together.  
  
And he was no idiot. He suddenly realized exactly what was subconsciously bothering him: the babies… They had to be Trip's! it would explain everything, especially why he was so reluctant to admit how he felt. It would also explain Trip's incessant worry over her well-being. Not that Trip would ever admit to any of it, but it was quite clear to the Captain. Trip was most defiantly the father.  
  
All of a sudden his thoughts were cut off. "Crewman Franco to turbolift. Is there a problem?" the comm chirped.  
  
"Excuse me?" the captain responded, confusion slipping into his voice.  
  
"The turbolift has been stalled for five minutes, sir." Red crept into the Captain's face as he realized that over fifty attempts had been made to call the lift. "I was inquiring if there was a problem we should be aware of. Commander Tucker insists there's nothing wrong with--" The crewman didn't want to shut up, did he.  
  
"No crewman," he interrupted. "There isn't a problem. I'll reactivate the turbolift momentarily. He was trying to sound as official as possible, but wasn't really succeeding. He gave himself a few seconds for the embarrassment to diminish from his face, then moved the turbolift back to the deck where a group of people had collected.  
  
He walked out, knowing that he had to go to engineering and confront Trip with this. He couldn't have his best friend lying to him anymore, and he intended to find out the truth. 


	26. Chapter 25

A/N: HEY!!!!!! I feel REALLY bad about not updating for TWO WEEKS…… It's finals time and I have had WAY too much homework, so I haven't had ANY time to type this up… so over this thanksgiving break, I will type up no LESS than 4 chapters, and hopefully more than one per day…. And if I don't, you guys can all come beat me up or stalk me or something…… anyway, without further adieu…..   
  
Chapter 25  
  
'What the hell was he talkin' about?!' Trip thought angrily as he stormed down the corridor toward engineering. He arrived there within just a few minutes, opened the door, and slammed it shut as much as the door could be slammed. This earned him about ten sets of eyes, but he ignored the staring of his entire confused staff and went to his normal station. He began slamming on the buttons, drawing even more attention to himself. But he didn't care. He was madder than hell and could think of no other way to vent his frustrations.  
  
'I don't have feelin's for T'Pol!' he screamed silently. 'What was he thinking'… callin' me a liar?! And while T'Pol was layin' in sickbay half-dead!' He had really crossed the line this time. Sure, he was the captain, but that didn't give him the right to accuse his officers of having feeling for one another. Especially when it wasn't true!  
  
His silent ranting was interrupted by the sound of the engineering door being opened. He looked over and was disgusted to see the captain coming through it. 'Man, he's got a lotta nerve comin' down here after what he said in sickbay.'  
  
"So what brings you here, Cap'n?" Trip asked sardonically, not even trying to hide his anger.  
  
"I need to talk to you, Trip," he told the engineer. By his tone, it was obvious that he wouldn't take an 'I'll get back to ya' from Trip this time. In was not a request, and the captain didn't try to pretend that it was. But Trip was in no mood to talk to the captain at that moment.  
  
"You don't wanna talk t' me right now, Cap'n," he snapped.  
  
"I need to talk to you now Trip. That's an order!"  
  
"I'm not on duty," he spat out angrily.  
  
"I'm still your commanding officer. I can order to talk to me whenever the hell I want. So follow me, commander. Outside," he ordered. "Now!" he added when Trip didn't move.  
  
Trip was about to protest further but realized that the only person on the ship that could throw him in the brig was yelling at him to do something. Reluctantly, he backed down the short ladder and followed the captain out into the empty corridor, once again ignoring the many eyes following the pair as they walked, fearful of being yelled at by either of the commanding officers.  
  
Trip was relieved when the captain kept walking as he didn't want to talk right at that moment, and he welcomed each minute that they walked in silence.  
  
Eventually, they arrived at the captain's quarters and Trip knew that once thwy walked inside, his lecture and interrogation would begin.  
  
The captain keyed his access code and walked in. Trip paused a few seconds to sigh before walking in. the long walk was to have been effective in venting most of the engineer's anger and only worry about what this little talk would involve remained.  
  
As the door closed behind Trip and he saw the anger on Archer's face, his worry increased.  
  
"Alright Trip. I want to know the truth! From the beginning!" the captain stated angrily, worrying Trip further still by the hatred in his voice.  
  
"What truth, Cap'n? What are you talkin' about?"  
  
"I want to know the whole story. What happened on that away mission? What's going on between you and T'Pol? I want to know now, Trip!"  
  
So much for venting anger. "I told ya, Cap'n! Nothing happened! And I've just been helping' 'er out a little since she's pregnant. I swear, Cap'n! That's the truth! Nothing happened!" Trip yelled in desperation.  
  
"I don't believe that and you know it! What happened on the planet, Trip? Tell me now! That's an order!"  
  
"Nothin'! we looked for you and Hoshi! That's all!"  
  
"What about during that big storm? Are you trying to tell me that T'Pol, who gets cold easily, was willing to search for more than ten hours in the rain?"  
  
All of a sudden, Trip traded his anger for confusion. "what the hell are you talkin' about? What rain? I don't know where you were, but when we were there, the sky was clear the entire time."  
  
"'What rain'?" the captain asked rudely. "What do you mean, 'what rain'?" me and Hoshi had to go into a cave after out tent started leaking. So don't try to-- Trip?"  
  
*****flashback*****  
  
… Rain was pouring down from the black night sky. He walked up to a cave, his hair and clothing soaked…  
  
*****end flashback*****  
  
Trip suddenly looked pale, and his anger had completely gone.  
  
The captain's anger was gone as well, to be replaced by concern. "Trip?" he asked again. "Are you alright?"  
  
Before he could ask again, Trip jerked his head up. "What?" he asked before realizing what the captain had asked. "Oh. Have you ever had a flashback of something you don't remember?"  
  
"The captain looked confused. "No, Trip. Why?"  
  
"Well, make sure you don't 'cause it's not fun."  
  
"Trip?" he asked suspiciously. "Are you trying to tell me something?"  
  
Trip looked like a deer in headlights. "I don' know," he answered truthfully.  
  
A/N2: ok, that's one.. Next one will be up within the next hour.. Actually, wait.. It's really short.. So I'll say less than ½ hour till the next one!!!! 


	27. Chapter 26

A/N: you know the drill….. Next chappy… told ya, less than ½ hour…. And I promised so now I have to type fast!!!!   
  
Chapter 26  
  
"Ok, is that all you remember?" The captain asked Trip. After the captain ordered him to sit down and he'd had a chance to adjust to his new and mysterious memories, the engineer had explained his odd experience to the captain and they had both come to the conclusion that Trip had indeed experienced a flashback of what the captain seemed to believe was a forgotten part of the infamous away mission. Everything seemed to fit, except that Trip couldn't remember much about the events. Or at least, he didn't remember them correctly.  
  
"Yeah, Cap'n. If I knew, I'd be the first t' tell ya."  
  
"Well try to remember. Was it on that away mission or not? Was T'Pol with you?"  
  
Trip put his head in his hands and looked down at the floor. After a minute, he looked back up. "Sorry, Cap'n. I just can't remember anything else."  
  
"But do you think that it was that away mission, Trip? This is very important."  
  
"It could be, Cap'n. I guess that the whole thing isn't exactly clear in my mind," he admitted. Then he quickly added, "but I do know that nothin' happened between me an' T'Pol!"  
  
"You just said that it's all a bit fuzzy and now this might be something from the away mission that you'd forgotten. So maybe something DID happen, but you just don't remember. Isn't that possible?"  
  
"No!" Trip shouted, jumping up in shock. "I think that's somethin' I'd remember. I mean, it's kinda hard t' forget something' like that!"  
  
"You never know. Maybe in shock of what happened, your own brain tried to wipe the memory. I've heard of it happening before."  
  
"To BOTH of us?! Is that even possible?"  
  
"I don't know," the captain admitted.   
  
Trip seemed ready to speak again when the Doctor's voice came over the comm. "Sickbay to the captain."  
  
He pushed the comm panel on the wall. "This is the Captain. That do you need, Doctor?"  
  
"I have received permission from the Vulcan ship to collect enough blood for the Sub-commander," he answered, sounding satisfied and relieved.  
  
"Good work, Doctor. If you don't mind me asking, what did you tell them?"  
  
"Simply that we had no stored blood for our science officer and that in case of emergency we needed some."  
  
"So they didn't start asking questions?"  
  
"On the contrary, the medical officers on the ship were quite helpful, Captain."  
  
"Well you can go get it whenever you can."  
  
"Actually I already did, Captain. I hope you don't mind. I have begun the Sub-commander's treatment."  
  
"Is she alright, Doc?" Trip asked from behind the Captain.  
  
"Ah! I'm glad you're there, Commander. You asked me to inform you as soon as her condition improved." Well, he hadn't exactly asked politely, or even asked at all. But Trip was glad that Phlox didn't dwell on that fact. "Well I was just about to call you about that. Her vital signs should be stable within a few hours now that she has significantly more blood circulating in her body."  
  
"Can I come see 'er?" Trip asked, earning him a suspicious glare from the captain.  
  
"Of course," Phlox answered in a compassionate yet cheerful tone. With the affirmative from the Doctor, Trip immediately headed for the door. He opened it only to find the captain's arm in his way, causing him to step back and let the door be closed again.  
  
"Thank you Doctor. Archer out." After the transmission had been cut, he turned to Trip.  
  
"Cap'n, I'm just going t' check up on 'er. It's my fault she's there in the first place. It's the least I can do," Trip told him.  
  
"I'm sure, Trip," he told him in a compassionate tone that told Trip that he wasn't being sarcastic. "I just wanted you to wait for me."  
  
Trip was suddenly embarrassed and wasn't very good at hiding it. "Oh," he said, opening the door again. He let the captain leave first but followed close behind.  
  
  
  
A/N2: ok, that's two… that took even less time than I thought!!!! Next one will be up within the next hour.... well... hopefully... i'm gonna take a break now cuz my fingers hurt, so it may be a little more than an hour, but i'll try!!!! 


	28. Chapter 27

A/N: you know the drill….. Next chappy… Becky, who usually doesn't type ANY of this (Emily usually does because she, I mean I, won't let her)… so if there's anything wrong with this one we can blame her!!!!  
  
  
Chapter 27  
  
The Captain had been gone for hours when Trip awoke in sickbay, not realizing that he'd fallen asleep. The doctor was working in the other end of sickbay and T'Pol was lying on a bed next to the chair he was in. She was still on life support but apparently stabilized. The life-support was now there only as a precaution against complications.   
  
"Ah! Good morning commander," Doctor Phlox's cheerful voice greeted him.  
  
"How long'v I been sleepin'?" Trip said rubbing his face groggily.  
  
"Only about seven hours."  
  
"Seven hours!? Why didn't you wake me up?" He asked standing up and looking over at The Doctor.  
  
"You haven't gotten much sleep lately. I though it best to allow you a nap  
  
"Oh," Trip replied. Had it been that obvious that he hadn't slept? At least his nap left hm feeling better, so he figured it better Phlox had not awakened him.  
  
Since the sleep issue was covered, Trip decided to get back to more pressing matters. He looked at T'Pol with a hopeful expression, which Doctor Phlox seemed to recognize. "Her condition has begun to stabilize and she can now breathe on her own. However I will be keeping her on life support for several more hours just to be on the safe side."  
  
Trip breathed a sigh of relief. "Good idea, Doc."  
  
The Denobulan nodded.  
  
"Do you know when she'll wake up?"  
  
"Unfortunately no, commander. Although I can tell you that it will most likely be at least two days."  
  
'TWO DAYS' Trip thought. The Vulcan's where definitely going to be suspicious if T'Pol didn't show up for two days. 'Hell, they're probably already suspicious.' They had been all over the ship only hours earlier.  
  
"Is there any way to wake 'er up before then Doc?" He pleaded.  
  
"I'm afraid forcefully waking her in this condition would be extremely dangerous." The Doctor told him sadly.  
  
"Damn! We tried so hard to keep this from the Vulcans and now there's no way to keep 'em from finding out, is there Doc?"  
  
I do believe we will have to inform them that this has happened." Phlox said in a less-than-cheerful tone.  
  
"Damn!" Trip said again. This left The Doctor at a loss for words. "How come this had t' happen! We could have sent those Vulcans on their way. But then this had t' happen! And the worst part is we still don't know what happened t' 'er in the first place! Now the Vulcans are probably gonna blame us for this!"  
  
"What gives you that idea, Commander?" The doctor asked trying to stop Trip from rambling while making him think more rationally at the same time.  
  
"You know the Vulcans! It'd be their chance t' send us home, not to mention drag T'Pol back t' Vulcan in disgrace"  
  
"That is not correct commander. We really have no idea how the Vulcans will react to the situation."  
  
Trip looked like his best friend had just punched him in the face. "Doc! You know as well as I do what the Vulcans think of us. They've tried t' send Enterprise packing at least a dozen times over the last two and a half years! And they've tried t' take T'Pol away even more than that!"  
  
"Commander, the Vulcans here are her family members. I'm sure they have no intention of sending anything they find out to the High Command or Starfleet. I'm sure they don't want her disgraced."  
  
"What makes you think that? They hate 'er!"  
  
"That is an inaccurate assessment, commander. If sub-commander T'Pol were awake, I'm sure she would tell you the same thing. Vulcans don't, or rather can't, hate."  
  
Suddenly, Trip's thoughts wandered back to T'Pol's quarters two years earlier. He remembered giving her the advice not to marry Koss. And now that advice was blowing up in his face as the same people whom she'd informed of her desire to stay on Enterprise were now on the ship trying to force her to marry Koss. Trip was angered at that thought. He didn't know why. But the thought of T'Pol being forced into marriage somehow infuriated him. The Doctor noticed this. "Commander?" He inquired.  
  
This brought Trip back to reality. "Oh, sorry Doc. I was just thinking'."  
  
"About what? If you don't mind me asking."  
  
"Actually I do mind. I wish I could tell ya, but it's not my place. I promised someone that I'd keep it a secret," he told Doctor Phlox reluctantly. "Sorry."  
  
"No apology is necessary. It isn't my place, either, to ask you to break a promise just for me," he responded, putting his hands up in a gesture of sincerity. This last exchange calmed Trip down and cheered up the Doctor, returning them to their normal selves.  
  
Doctor Phlox, after his last statement, took a look at the scans of T'Pol before walking back to work on something at the other end of sickbay.  
  
"Ya know, if you want, Doc, I can stay here an' watch 'er while you grab something t' eat," he suggested from across sickbay. "Ya haven't left since I brought 'er in here so I'm sure you're hungry," he added, hoping Phlox would take the hint.  
  
The Doctor pondered this for a moment, just holding something in his hand as if he were in a picture. Unfortunately, he seemed pretty much clueless as to the Commander's suggestion. "I see no need to leave sickbay. I can wait at least six more hours before I eat."  
  
Trip figured the Doctor would never understand a subtle hint so something a little more obvious was necessary. "Doc?" He asked again. "Could ya just leave sickbay for a little while?" At this, Phlox noticed Trip staring at T'Pol.  
  
"Ah… I see. I suppose eating now couldn't hurt. I'll be back within an hour, Commander. Be sure to check on her vital systems at least once while I'm gone."  
  
"Vital systems... at least once… got it," he said, thinking out loud, trying to encourage the Doctor to speed it up a bit. Fortunately, he did take the hint this time and the Denobulan finally left Trip and T'Pol alone.  
  
He didn't really know why he'd wanted to be alone with T'Pol's unconscious form. He only knew that he did. But as he stared down at her lying there, he understood why. He needed time to think, but also needed to be near her.  
  
Not that the Captain was right, though. He didn't have feelings for her. No one would ever understand their odd relationship. Somehow, out of all the arguing and working together they had reached a mutual understanding and a need to protect each other. Some might even call them friends, but that wouldn't be entirely correct either. They were closer than friends. Not in a romantic sense, but in a caring sense.  
  
And now that had almost ended. One of his closest friends, if not his very closest, had nearly died that day. And he had barely been able to save her life. Not that he could really justify that. After all, it had been his fault that this had all happened in the first place. So now he felt he had to protect her.  
  
No, the Captain was wrong about him. He didn't have feelings for her. That was impossible. "Impossible," he said out loud, as if it would give more meaning to the word.  
  
He kept staring at her, as if taking his eyes off of her would make her condition worsen. As he stared, he reached his hand back and grabbed the chair that he'd slept in and pulled it under him. He sat down, his eyes still unmoving, and set his hands in the edge of the biobed in front of him.  
  
*****flashback*****  
  
It was dark, with only one obvious light source. He was lying down and he looked over. T'Pol was on a surgical bed. There was something attached to her face… some kind of tube.  
  
*****end flashback*****  
  
"What the hell?!" he shouted, pushing his chair back and jumping out of it. He looked as if he'd just been stung by a bee as he fled back and away from the biobed. Once he was away from them, he realized what had happened. It was now bright and he was not lying down. He'd had another strange flashback, this time of something completely different. Even with this realization, he suddenly had the gut feeling that T'Pol was in danger. He walked back over to her side, this time checking her vital signs as the Doctor had instructed. She was still stable, but he still had that gut feeling. He stood next to her, checking all the equipment around her only to find that there was nothing wrong with any of it. Next he looked around sickbay, especially near the biobed, from his position. Still nothing.   
  
`"If there's nothin' here, then why the hell can't I stop thinking' that somethin' bad is gonna happen to ya?" He asked T'Pol, knowing full well that he wouldn't get an answer. Instead, he just lifted her small hand and clasped it between both of his. Somehow this comforted him, knowing that she couldn't run away and that he couldn't leave her. As he held her hand, he used his foot to once again pull the chair under him and he sat down in it. He looked down at her face, which was still and made her seem oblivious to what was going on around her. 'Damn, she is beautiful,' he though to himself. 'But I don't have feelin's for 'er.'  
  
He lifted her hand up and removed his hand from the top of it. He moved her hand carefully to his mouth and kissed it softly. Strangely, he didn't feel worried that she might find out. Instead, he just set her hand back down, sandwiching it once again between his own, and laid his head back before falling asleep.  
  
  
  
  
  
A/N2: yes, that one was shippy…. Well, it was SUPPOSED to be… oh yes, and that's three…!!!! I promised four this week… Only one more to go and I will have fulfilled my commitment…. Just kidding.. We'll keep typing this week until our hands fall off… we WANT to get this thing typed up…… 


	29. Chapter 28

A/N: SORRY guys…. I said 4 in one week and then some but I'm afraid I had a problem… you see, I had a computer but it had NO AUTO CORRECT thing… and I didn't have time to correct EVERY little mistake…. If you knew my dad, you'd understand what I mean, but you don't so it's ok… not much of an excuse, but I'm typing this one up NOW… THIS MORNING….. So read up!!!!  
  
  
Chapter 28  
  
"She's comin' to!" he shouted victoriously. In response, the Captain and Doctor Phlox sprinted over to the biobed to join Trip.  
  
The Doctor proceeded to remove the life support devices to which T'Pol was still attached.  
  
"T'Pol?" Trip coaxed. Her eyes fluttered slightly and her fingers moved. HE grasped her hand instinctively and asked again. "T'Pol?"  
  
"T'Pol, you going to wake up?" The Captain asked.  
  
Trip felt T'Pol's grip tighten and her eyes began to open lazily. "T'Pol!" he exclaimed, relieved that she was indeed alive and awake.  
  
She began to sit up, but before she even got six inches off the biobed, three hands stopped her and eased her back down.  
  
"What happened?" she asked weakly. Even though weak, Trip hadn't realized how much he'd missed her voice.  
  
"We were actually hoping that you could tell us," the Captain told her.  
  
"I don't remember," she told him.  
  
"You don't remember anything?" Trip asked her pleadingly.  
  
She looked at him for the first time since waking up. "No. How long have I been here?"  
  
"Nearly three days," The Captain told her.  
  
"An' you have no idea how hard a time the Vulcans have been givin' us. We had t' tell 'em you were here after about a day of tellin' 'em lies. They didn't like that very much. An' they aren't too happy right now either."  
  
When T'Pol's look changed to one of… was it fear and shock… the Captain realized what was wrong. "Don't worry. We didn't tell them about your pregnancy. We just said that you were here and would be for a few days."  
  
T'Pol breathed a very uncharacteristic sigh of relief.  
  
"Well I-"  
  
The Captain was interrupted by the voice of Ensign Hoshi Sato, who sounded a little more gloomy than usual. "Captain, it's the Vulcans. They insist on speaking with you. I've been stalling them for the last hour but they aren't buying it anymore."  
  
The Captain sighed, pushing the wall comm. "I'll be right there." He turned off the comm and addressed the Doctor. "If anything comes up I'll be on the bridge."  
  
The Doctor nodded and spoke to T'Pol. "If you're up to it you may want to return to your quarters."  
  
"Thank you, Doctor," she said in relief. However, when she attempted to sit up and was hit by a wave of nausea she changed her mind. "I think I will wait here for the time being," she reported, lying back down.  
  
"As you wish," Phlox replied. He was ready to get back to work, but then he noticed the way Trip and T'Pol were gazing at each other, intentionally or not, and added," I'll be back in a short while. If you need me, I'll be in the mess hall. Feel free to leave while I'm gone if you wish, but don't forget that hypospray."  
  
There was silence in sickbay for several minutes as the two just stayed there, staring at each other. Finally, Trip decided to speak up and break the silence. He didn't really know where to begin. He had so much that he wanted to say to her. He finally decided to start first things first. "Ya know, I'm… well, I'm sorry for yellin' at ya the other day. I guess this is kinda my fault. 'Cause if I'd just kept my--"  
  
"There is no need to apologize, Commander. Although I don't recall what happened after leaving you in the corridor, I do know that you would never do something to harm me," she interrupted with sincerity.  
  
Trip was unconvinced. "Still, I just--"  
  
"Commander, I don't wish to hear your groveling. I simply want to know what has happened to me and what will happen to me now that I'm awake."  
  
He didn't want to argue with her in sickbay so he decided to answer her question to the best of his ability. "Well," he started. "Like the Cap'n said, we were hopin' you knew. I do know that I found ya in a storage locker in hydroponics. You were unconscious and ya had a huge gash in your side. You had blood all over ya an' after a minute you stopped breathin'. I had t' do CPR, but I barely saved ya." At this comment, T'Pol looked concerned, but he continued, albeit in a distressed tone. In fact, he was close to crying at the memory of almost losing her. But he managed to continue without incident. "Luckily, the Doc got there an' we brought ya t' sickbay and stuck you on life support. Then we had t' get some blood from the Vulcan ship… to replace what you'd lost and, well, the rest ya know."  
  
T'Pol continued to stare unwavering, but her expression continued as one of concern and fear, if that was even possible. Most people wouldn't notice this subtle change from her normally blank and stoic expressions, but he knew her well enough to know if something was bothering her. "I have not been in hydroponics for nearly two weeks," she told him with slightly more strength in her voice.  
  
"Are ya sure? 'Cause that's where I found ya." He was concerned that she couldn't remember such an event, especially one so recent.  
  
"As I told you, I don't recall any of the events which you have described to me. I don't know how I became injured, nor how I got into a storage locker in hydroponics." She was beginning to get frustrated-- probably either from her lack of memory or her inability to answer their questions.  
  
There was a silence as he gazed into her eyes, trying to find out what was troubling her beyond the obvious. Unfortunately he didn't find anything. "Okay," he said after his failed attempt. "Why don't we talk about somethin' else?" he suggested.  
  
She nodded. Although it was visibly painful for her to do so, and seemed relieved at his suggestion.  
  
He wasn't sure whether she would welcome the next topic he wanted to discuss, but he believed that it was necessary. "Do you remember anything 'bout that away mission that you haven't told us?"  
  
As he'd suspected, she didn't seem to welcome this line of questioning. "Are you referring to the mission where I supposedly became pregnant?" She asked, already knowing the answer and disgusted by it.  
  
"Yeah."  
  
"Then no. I recall the same events that you and the Captain described to the Doctor. I myself also told him what I remember. He told me that all three of our memories appeared to coincide with one another."  
  
Based on the confidence with which she spoke despite her obviously weakened state, he knew that she wouldn't take the news of his flashbacks as more than just imagined events. But he knew that he had to find out what really happened on that planet nearly eleven weeks earlier. Even if everyone thought he was crazy; even if she thought he was crazy for even suggesting that the didn't remember what had happened. "Well, T'Pol…" he started. "Ya see, I…" He didn't want to tell her of his second flashback but he knew he had to tell her. "I had a… flashback of somethin' than happened on an away mission. I don't know what one for sure, but I think it was that one."  
  
"What do you mean?" she asked him. She looked more confused than anything, but once he told her what the flashback had been, he was sure that her ever-so subtle expression would change.  
  
"I mean I had a flashback of somethin' that I don't remember happening."  
  
"If you don't remember it happening then how can you be sure it is really a memory?" It had begun--the big debate.  
  
"Well, I know this might be hard t' believe, but the Cap'n remembered that away mission bein' rainy but I remembered it bein' a clear sky the whole time."  
  
"What does that have to do with a flashback?"  
  
"Lemme finish… ya see, the Cap'n asked Hoshi later an' she remembered rain too. In fact, they both remember goin' into a cave t' get out of it." T'Pol was still giving him the raised eyebrow, but he knew she would stop once he had the chance to finish. "Well, when the Cap'n told me about the cave, I remembered somethin' that I didn't remember before. I was walkin' into a cave. It was rainin' an' my clothes were soakin' wet."  
  
As expected, her expression had changed to one of skepticism. "That could have been at any point in your life. It is ridiculous to assume that it was an event during a specific away mission."  
  
"But I'm tellin' ya, I don't remember anything else about it. Most of my memories are more complete. But this one just came outta nowhere. And when I described it to the Cap'n, he figured it could be somethin' from that away mission."  
  
"Why?"  
  
"'Cause when I explained it to 'im, he said that the cave I described was a lot like the caves on that planet."  
  
"Once again, you could have been describing a cave which you ventured into during any away mission."  
  
"Well you didn't get pregnant on just any away mission." When the look on her face changed to one of complete disgust, he regretted even saying it.  
  
Fortunately, she didn't seem too offended, only skeptical and confused. "What are you implying?"  
  
"Well, you memories are of a sunny away mission, too. Right?"  
  
"Yes, but--"  
  
"Well, out memories don't add up to the Cap'n and Hoshi's," he interrupted. He figured she was about to point out that it could be the Captain and Hoshi remembering things incorrectly, but he continued before she could say anything. "And since nothin' weird happened to either of them, but did happen t' us, I think that it's us who aren't rememberin' things like they happened."  
  
Finally, she appeared to understand when he was coming from. "So what you are suggesting is that something happened to us on the planet which caused us to lose our memories, or to have them replaced by different ones." He was glad that she was not asking but instead adding to his hypothesis.  
  
"Right," he told her. He was hesitant to continue but knew that it was crucial. "An' there's more. Ya see, I had another flashback." She stared silently, urging him to continue. "An' this one was of you." He paused, watcher her expression change slightly. He couldn't quite tell what it had changed to, but it could have been surprise. "You were… laying on something. It looked like a biobed, only we weren't in sickbay. There was only one light, so it was real dark and I could barely tell it was you. But I saw ya lying there. You looked unconscious, and ya had some kinda tube attached to your face… and that's all I could remember."  
  
"So you believe that we were together in this second memory?" He was thankful that she finally accepted his flashbacks as memories and not delusions.   
  
"Yeah."  
  
"And do you believe that both of these memories are… from the same away mission?"  
  
He nodded. "It makes sense. On that away mission we were together. And in the first flashback I was going into a dark cave. The second one, I was with you in a dark room that coulda been a cave. Seems t' go together."  
  
"But I have no similar memories," she told him, unexpectedly changing back to her original skepticism.  
  
"T'Pol, think about it!" She looked unwilling. "Think!" He said again.  
  
This time, she put some effort into it and she stared off into space, seemingly searching deep down into the recesses of her mind for any traces of what he was remembering. After about five minutes, she finally turned back to him, visibly disappointed, if that was possible. "No. I can't remember anything such as you are describing."  
  
"T'Pol! If you're not tellin' me somethin'…" he told her sternly.  
  
This appeared to cause great stress on T'Pol and this time she didn't make any effort to hide it. "No, Commander! I am not hiding anything from you. I have no reason to do so. In fact, discovering the events which transpired on that away mission would benefit not only myself but you and Enterprise as well." The sincerity and conviction with which she spoke assured him that she was indeed telling him all that she knew.  
  
Not wishing to cause her any further stress, he decided to stop drilling her with questions. "Alright," he said. "I believe you." Suddenly, the mood in the room made it very awkward and uncomfortable. 'Well, I'd better go," he said at last, turning to leave and loosing his grip on her hand.  
  
"But she tightened her own grip, making certain that he could not get free of her grasp. "No," she blurted unexpectedly. "Please… don't leave."  
  
"Are ya sure? A few days ago, you woulda done anything t' get me outta your hair, and now ya want me t' stay?" he asked, turning his head to look at her.  
  
Seeing his odd, surprised, not to mention bewildered expression, she realized that he wasn't expecting this. "Yes, I'm sure. At least until Doctor Phlox returns. Considering my current condition, I would prefer if someone else was in sickbay."  
  
Just as he had been shocked to hear her ask him, he now felt suddenly sorry for her-- having to lie in sickbay alone would make him go insane. 'Alright," he assured her. "I'll stay. I won't leave ya here if ya don't want me to." He walked back to the biobed, his hand still tightly restricted by her surprisingly powerful grasp. He thought, in fact, that nothing could be tighter until he was proven wrong by her hand tightening up as she stared off into space.  
  
*****flashback*****  
  
Someone was restraining her forcefully, trying to drag her somewhere in the dark room. "Commander!" she screamed. "Help me!"  
  
*****end flashback*****  
  
  
  
A/N2: YAY!!!!!! Another chappy… and YES, sickbay is one of the LONGEST scenes (sadly because it's very slow) so just sit tight and we'll try to type it as fast as we can…. And yes, that flashback was SUPPOSED to seem out of character.. You will see why later… In the meantime, is ANYONE even reading this anymore…. No one is reviewing… and if no one is reviewing I never know who's reading… and I'm not gonna keep typing this if no one's reading it…. So PLEASE R&R!!!!! 


	30. Chapter 29

A/N: First of all, this is the FIRST chappy I will type up under my new FF.N account, so I have a few things to say!!!! First of all, if the old and new reviews are added together, there are 95!!!!! I know that reviews aren't everything, but it's kinda nice to know that you guys are READING the story, let alone LIKING it!!!! So thank you all!!!!! Also, anyone who would like this story on their site (or already has it there), keep the author as "Emily and Becky" please…. Or I guess, "CrazyPandaSpike and Becky Gotta-Love-Trip" is ok too because those are our new names!!!! Alright, now, ON TO THE STORY!!!!!! Oh, and I'm not very satisfied with this chappy.. Or the rest of the sickbay chappys… they were all written in a rush (because we wanted to move on with the story) so if they're bad I apologize in advance ::braces for flame attacks::  
  
  
Chapter 29  
  
"Ah!" Trip shouted. T'Pol had suddenly squeezed his hand extremely hard and he felt a sharp pain in his right hand, which she was still holding. It felt like she was going to crush every bone, but he had no idea what would possess her to cause him this much physical pain.  
  
Just as he was beginning to think that amputation might soon become a viable option, she released her grip and he quickly grabbed his own right hand with his left in an effort to suppress the pain coming from it. Nothing worked, but as soon as he saw T'Pol, he completely forgot about the pain. Although he continued holding his hand, he was more worried about her than anything else.  
  
"T'Pol?" Trip asked, unaware of what she had just experienced or why she had hurt his hand.  
  
She jumped slightly at his voice, and she felt a sharp pain emanating form the location of her injury. She tried to hide it, but based on the apologetic and pained look on his face, she obviously wasn't doing a very good job.  
  
"T'Pol?" he asked again. "What happened?"  
  
She was unsure of how to answer this question. Based on what the Commander had told her, she had most likely just experienced a flashback. But she was hesitant about telling him. After all, hat if it was not what she believed? Then she would have told him an uncomfortable memory, although only a short one. She didn't like to describe things such as this. She'd had a flashback before, several in fact. They were all uncomfortable but she didn't like describing those to anyone, either. She'd described them all to people, but only once to a fellow crewmember, and that was only due to necessity for the mission. She didn't want to tell the Commander this now. She preferred to keep things to herself most of the time, especially personal things such as memories.   
  
"Nothing significant," she lied. "I simply experienced a sudden pain from my injury."  
  
Fortunately, he seemed to believe her. "Oh. Well that's what ya get for movin'" he lectured sarcastically, trying to lighten the mood. And although he succeeded, she certainly wasn't going to show it.  
  
"I know. It was my fault as I neglected to move my arm in a more appropriate fashion."  
  
"T'Pol… I was jokin'. It's okay. It's not your fault. It just happened 'cause you were hurt. Don't go blamin' your self for every little thing."  
  
Despite the fact that he had been completely oblivious to the fact that she'd also been joking, his words were somehow comforting. She couldn't quite explain how, only that they were. "Thank you, Commander," she said sincerely.  
  
"For what?" he asked, just as sincerely.  
  
Suddenly she realized the illogic of her 'thank you' statement. What *was* she thankful for? She though about what a human would say in such circumstances, as a Vulcan would never thank for nothing. She realized that they would probably give an answer such as "for everything" or "I don't know". She decided to settle for the most logical answer she could come up with. "For saving my life," she replied, realizing only after she said it that she was very sincere about that answer and that it was indeed the truth.   
  
He realized this too, noticing that she was indeed grateful for his saving her, and he accepted this answer with mixed feelings. He was relieved in a way that she was appreciative. But he was also both enraged and sad--most likely due to the fact that she'd been placed in a situation that required assistance in keeping her alive. Still, he managed a slightly embarrassed and elated smile. "You're welcome. I'm just glad I got t' you in time." His smile faded and he became more serious again, although compassionate as well, mixed with a small amount of embarrassment at what he was about to say to her. "Ya know, T'Pol… if you'd died… I mean, I hope ya don't take this the wrong way, but…" he paused, trying to figure out how to what he was trying to say. "I don't know what I woulda done. I mean, if ya weren't her, it just wouldn't be the same. I guess I'd miss talkin' to ya an' arguing' with ya an' workin' together an' havin' dinner with ya-- damn, we do a lotta stuff together!" he was surprised by his own list of their mutual activities.  
  
"It would also be… 'heartbreaking', as humans would say, if you were to die, Commander. We have indeed become--"  
  
"Friends," he interrupted. "Whether ya want to admit it to anyone or not, we're friends."  
  
He expected some kind of Vulcan retort or argument, but to his surprise she remained silent.  
  
"Well," he said in an attempt to change the subject. "When d' ya think you'll be ready t' get outta here? Keep in mind that you'll have t' tell your parents what's goin' on sooner or later."  
  
T'Pol seemed to consider what he said and replied by closing her eyes and relaxing. "Later," she said simply.  
  
Trip couldn't help but smile at her response and watched her as she layed there. She appeared much more relaxed than she had when she'd been unconscious for those two days. Although he would never admit it to himself, he enjoyed watching her lay there peacefully. He had stayed by her side whenever his engineering duties hadn't gotten in the way. He told himself he was worried about her because it was his fault that she was there in the first in the place. He then realized he hadn't eaten decently in three days, and boy was he hungry. His stomach had probably been growling for hours without his realizing it.  
  
"Hey, you hungry?" he asked her suddenly.  
  
The question caught T'Pol off guard. "Commander?"  
  
"You've been cooped up in here for two days. You've gotta be hungry by now."  
  
"Vulcans can go se--"  
  
"Don't give me that. You're eatin' for four now, remember? And besides, you need to get your strength back." You noted a slight cringe as he reminded her of both things.  
  
"Very well. I suppose a small amount of food would be acceptable. But we-- I should consult the Doctor."  
  
Trip smiled at T'Pol's comment and added, "Yeah. Where is that guy anyway?"  
  
"I believe he said he was going to the mess hall," T'Pol said, opening her eyes, surprised that he hadn't remembered.  
  
"Great! I'll just meet 'im there then," Trip said enthusiastically, walking backwards as he talked, then turning around.  
  
He was stopped by T'Pol calling him. "Commander Tucker!" He spun around on his heel and looked at her.  
  
"Yeah?"  
  
"I haven't told you what to get me."  
  
"I'll surprise ya!" he said, a mile-wide mischievous grin refusing to fade from his face.  
  
T'Pol merely raised an eyebrow and closed her eyes once more.  
  
Trip circled back around again and headed out of sickbay and down to the mess hall with a spring in his step, still holding onto his right hand, finally remembering the pain.  
  
*****************  
  
Commander Tucker walked in the doors to the mess hall much more cheerful than someone with a throbbing hand should be. He spotted the Doctor eating and walked to join him. "Hey, Doc. I have a question," Trip piped.  
  
"Is it about sub-commander T'Pol?" the Doctor asked quietly.  
  
"Yeah," Trip answered slowly. "Why?"  
  
"Oh," the Doctor glanced behind Trip for a moment for a moment before leaning in to whisper. "Now would not be the best time."  
  
"Huh?"  
  
The Doctor nodded toward the mess hall entrance and Trip snuck a peek behind himself to see two Vulcan men standing at the door, seeming to search through the room for something or someone.  
  
"Damn! I think you're right, Doc," he agreed. He didn't want the Vulcans to start asking him questions. They had, after all, seen Trip with T'Pol on several occasions, and they could assume he knew her situations. He decided to assume T'Pol would be fine eating and looked at the Doctor with his best 'just-go-with-me' look. "So nice chattin' with ya. Gotta go now!"  
  
Trip was standing up to walk to the serving case to grab something when the Doctor stopped him. "Commander, would you like me to look at your hand?"  
  
"What?!" Trip exclaimed, a little louder than he'd wanted to.   
  
"You're right hand, Commander. You seem to be holding it as if in pain," he clarified.  
  
"Oh. No. I'm fine. See," he said, releasing his hand and biting his tongue at the pain as he shook it lightly to show the Doctor that it didn't hurt before continuing for the serving case.  
  
  
A/N2: like I said, bad chappy…. I wasn't very satisfied with it. Please R&R, like always!!!! And feel free to tell me if this chappy sucked, because I can take it… 


	31. Chapter 30

A/N: Alrighty, ANOTHER CHAPPY!!!!! Two in two day… half way to my record!!!! Ok, that's kinda sad…. Anyway, just R&R… oh, and I didn't realize it automatically forces you to sign in to review, so I took it off now… I WAS wondering why EVERYONE was signing in to review… And thank you zealousgirl, Little One, JD1, Aeryn Tucker, TripGirl05, DramaPrincess02, boredsilly, and Dragonfly for reviewing so far!!!!!!  
  
  
Chapter 30  
  
When he finally deemed it safe to return to sickbay, he walked with two plates balanced precariously in his left hand as his right hand was still throbbing and he couldn't carry anything with it. His good spirit was back as he walked down the corridor repeating to himself "Left me, right T'Polly." He'd gotten quite attached to rhymes recently and decided they worked well. He also enjoyed imagining the look on T'Pol's face were he to actually *call* her T'Polly.  
  
As he entered sickbay he noticed T'Pol was supporting herself up into a sitting position. "Feeling better?" he asked cheerfully.  
  
She considered his question and responded instead with her own regarding his choice of cuisine. "Pecan pie?" He was very predictable.  
  
Trip smiled broadly. "Yup."  
  
T'Pol frowned with her eyes and said," That is not a nutritionally sound food."  
  
Trip almost giggled at this, but assured her, "Keep yer shirt on. After there was nothin' in the serving case that I thought you'd like, I asked chef to make some pecan pie. I made sure he chalked it full of vitamins and minerals for ya. He says it's even better than plomeek broth."  
  
That answer satisfied T'Pol and she nodded her head, signifying she would accept the food. Trip paused before giving it to her, muttering something about left, right, and Polly, but that was all T'Pol could make out.  
  
After a moment of careful consideration he handed her the one on the right.  
  
She reached out with her right hand but felt a jolt of pain and winced, putting it back down. She repeated the process with the other hand, determined to do this herself, but again she was unsuccessful.  
  
"You alright?" Trip asked, lowering both pies onto a nearby biobed. He could see that she was in pain, especially when moving her arms, and he hoped that she would be willing to admit this. Fortunately, to his relief she nodded, seeming to cause her less pain than the same action had caused her earlier. "You need some help. Here, I can hold it up while ya eat."  
  
She leaned away from his outstretched hand and replied, "No, when I move my arms above my waist it is painful."  
  
"Ah," he said, withdrawing his hand and sinking into his chair, which was still sitting by the biobed.  
  
"Why aren't you eating?" She asked in confusion.  
  
"I was taught it's not polite t' eat in front of someone else," he said, almost proud at his politeness, although T'Pol didn't seem to understand. "But," he added, jumping up, but not out of seat. "I can help ya eat if ya want."  
  
"Commander?" T'Pol raised an eyebrow at this half-suggestion.  
  
"It's okay. Here, you can prop yourself up an' I'll feed ya," he said excitedly, grabbing the correct plate and a fork. He scooted the chair aside and stood by T'Pol, cutting a smile piece of pie and stabbing it with the fork. He raised the small morsel of pie up to her face, hovering it inches from her lips. She shied away from it, backing so that it was at least a few extra inches away. She pursed her lips tightly together and looked very hesitant. "Come on, ya know ya want it," he teased.  
  
T'Pol shot him an icy glare. Many people would fear for their life at that glare, but he knew her too well.  
  
Trip shot her his own 'don't-give-me-that-look' looks and swirled the pie in a circular motion, causing her to move back farther and to purse her lips tighter. "I will not--" this protest was cut off by Trip, who stuffed the pie into her mouth.  
  
Trip couldn't help but laugh at the look on her face as he shoved the food in her mouth. It was certainly priceless. 'Damn, if only I had my camera,' he thought. When she closed her mouth instinctively, he pulled the fork out. Her jaw was locked and she would not chew the sugary treat. He gave her an expectant look, trying to encourage her to eat. She did not go for it anymore than the swirling of the food in front of her face.  
  
"Come on, it won't kill ya. Chew," he instructed.  
  
She finally gave in and started chewing, albeit slowly. Realizing that she could easily get this all over with more quickly, she gradually chewed faster and faster until she was finished and swallowed.  
  
Trip's smile grew broader and broader as he watched her chew until it rivaled even Doctor Phlox's widest smile. "Good?" he finally asked in an 'I-told-you-so' tone once she had swallowed.  
  
"It was… not unpleasant," she admitted, eyeing the pie. He was in the process of slicing another piece off when he noticed her hand. It was slowly creeping toward him. He didn't realize what she was doing until it was too late. Before he could react she had grabbed his slice of pie and dug into it like a child into a birthday cake, albeit a lot less messy. She had flopped back onto her back when she grabbed the pie and appeared to be more comfortable.  
  
Trip was caught so off-guard that all he could do was gape at her stuffing one forkful into her mouth, chew it and repeat the process in less than three seconds. Without thinking, he began eating the pie in his lap. It was a bit harder to eat with his left hand, but he managed. "Ya know," he said between bites. "That one doesn't have any vitamins in it."  
  
T'Pol gave him another glare and responded. "I am aware of that, Commander."  
  
"Then why'd ya just eat an entire piece of pie faster than a piranha?"  
  
She glared at him again, but differently this time. This time, her expression was more one of relaxation and good humor than anything else. "As you said, I *am* 'eating for four.'"  
  
"And ya haven't had anything t' eat in about four days. Right," he finished in am only half-serious tone, making sure that she knew that he understood, but was also in a joking mood. "So… should I get ya somethin' else… a whole pie maybe?" he joked.  
  
She gave him that subtle humored look again. If he didn't know better and if she weren't injured, he would have sworn that she was very close to breaking out in a smile this time. "I would… appreciate that," she told him sincerely.  
  
"'K... ya want me t' go get each of us a pie? Or should I just get one?" he joked.  
  
She realized that he was joking and decided, against her better judgement to humor him. "Two or three will suffice," she answered coolly, her words betraying her otherwise stoic manner.  
  
He gave a snort, a laugh, and a huge smile as he began walking away. "I'll just go get us somethin,'" he said, back to her as the doors opened allowing him to leave. Then the door closed behind him and she was left in sickbay alone.  
  
  
A/N2: ok, a shippy chappy!!! T/T good!!! Ok, as if I REALLY needed to say that…. Yes, a LOT of glaring from both parties, and a LOT of emotional Vulcan…. Just R&R 


	32. Chapter 31

A/N: oki doki… another chappy… this one's a bit longer (at least to me because I have to do all the typing… yes, that's right… it's my job once again) this one starts in on the shippier stuff….. Again, this is still sickbay… but NO WORRIES… this is the LAST sickbay chappy!!!! YAY!!!!!!!!!!!!! Before my sis read this scene I told this: RED ALERT: MAJOR CHEESY SHIPPY-NESS STARTS THIS CHAPPY: PROCEED WITH CAUTION… she agreed, so I'm telling you and you can decide whether that fits or not…. And NO this isn't the SHIPPIEST chappy, but this is where it all begins (basically) oh, and this is a BIT (ok, a lot according to both me and several readers) long-winded.... i REALLY don't like this chappy.... but i wrote it several times and was never happy with it, so this is what i stuck with cuz it was the best one... that's right folks... there were WORSE drafts........ anyway read up  
  
  
Chapter 31  
  
"Hey," Trip said as he walked into sickbay. "Ya ready t' leave yet?"  
  
She seemed confused.  
  
"Doc told me ya woke up, so I decided t' come see ya. My shift ended 'bout an hour ago," he clarified. "An' I was jokin' about leavin'," he added, which ended her confusion.  
  
"I see," she said, showing that she now understood.  
  
"So…" he began. Noting that she was still lying down, he asked," How ya feelin'? Side still botherin' ya?"  
  
"Yes. However, the pain is slowly subsiding," she told him.  
  
"Want somethin' t' eat or something?" he asked, changing the subject.  
  
She curled her nose at this. "You have personally served me more food than most humans consume in a week. I certainly don't need any more."  
  
Noting the subtle anger in her statement, he quickly took it back. "Sorry. I was just offerin'. I don't think I need t' remind you again that you're eatin' for--"  
  
"No, Commander. You don't," she interrupted.  
  
Noting the embarrassment and animosity in her voice, he suddenly felt terrible. 'Why the hell did I say that?' he asked himself silently. "Look… I'm sorry, T'Pol. I know ya don't like t' think about it or talk about it… 'specially with me. I just--"  
  
"I accept you apology, Commander," she interrupted for the second time. "And you are correct. I prefer not to discuss my condition with anyone except when necessary."  
  
A long silence followed. This had happened on many occasions over the last week. They would argue, apologize, and stare at a wall or a ceiling, watching every speck of dust and every tiny crack or scratch… doing anything to avoid the other's gaze. This time, though, neither of them was busy counting imperfections in the metal. Instead, they were merely staring at each other, just as they had done so many times over the past week.  
  
They were practically in a trance, not even realizing that they were gazing into each other's eyes almost distantly. They did it almost subconsciously. They had done it before that week, also subconsciously, on several occasions, albeit not as often or prolonged. And normally there was nothing special about it. They were usually just string across the bridge and happened to catch each other's eyes. But the past few days had been different. Their gazes weren't normal. It hadn't been random, and it had been different.  
  
There was no way to even describe it. They didn't even notice it most of the time, which was odd because they did it so often for such long periods of time that one would assume they noticed but merely didn't want to stop. Nevertheless, they continued without even perceiving their actions.   
  
"So… anyway," Trip said at long last, only detecting subconsciously that time had passed.  
  
Once they realized what they had just done, both were fairly uncomfortable and T'Pol had to collect herself quickly in order to respond to his sudden comment. "Yes, Commander?! She asked, obviously having even less to speak about than he had.  
  
"So… when d'ya think you'll be ready t' get outta here… seriously. Ya can't lay in sickbay for the rest of your life…"  
  
"I am aware of that, Commander," she said, making certain to look confident even though her voice betrayed her uncertainty. "And I do believe I will be able to… face my parents… tomorrow. I don't know when I can face Koss' parents. I already insulted them by canceling my wedding plans. This would only increase their… agitation."  
  
"Well I'm sure you'll find a way t' tell 'em sooner or later," he told her reassuringly.  
  
Unfortunately, his attempt didn't appear to work. "Perhaps," she replied coolly.  
  
"Ya know, I can go with ya when ya tell your parents. If it'll help I mean. or even if ya don't think it'll help, there's always just bein' there for moral support. Ya know, but if ya--"  
  
"Thank you, Commander," she said sincerely. "I would appreciate your… moral support. However, if you were to become angry, it would only escalate a delicate situation."  
  
He held his hands up defensively. "I know. I'll try not t' let 'em rattle my cage too bad. I don't wanna make this any worse. This is all my fault in the first place-- like you've told me 'bout half a dozen times. I guess I just--"  
  
"Commander!" she interrupted again. "You're rambling out of nervousness. Please stop."  
  
'Ramblin'?' he thought. 'Damn, guess I was ramblin.' "Didn't mean t' make ya uncomfortable or anything, but well… here I go again…"  
  
"Perhaps we should change the topic of conversation," she suggested.  
  
"Yeah. Sounds like a good idea. What d'ya wanna talk about?"  
  
Neither of them really had any thoughts, and Trip was about ready to suggest that he leave and return later. T'Pol realized this, and she didn't want him to leave her alone. She quickly came up with a topic. "Perhaps you could tell me about the crew's activities over the past week." He looked confused at her topic choice, so she decided to clarify." I've been incapacitated for the last five days, and therefore have no knowledge of the events which have taken place beyond the… unfortunate events in my own life."  
  
Trip, not wanting to return to their previous topic of discussion, decided that he could settle for that reasoning. "Well…" he began. "I guess I could start with the Cap'n and work my way down." She nodded and he considered where to begin. Well, the Cap'n's been tryin' t get ya outta this, so he hasn't really been doin ' much else." Once again feeling an uncomfortable shift in his topic, he continued. "And, well, I guess I don't need t' tell ya about you or me…so, well--"  
  
"Commander," she stopped him, sounding much stronger than she looked.  
  
"Yeah?"  
  
"I would like to hear what you have done." This surprised him visually and T'Pol could see that he didn't wan to tell her what he'd done, but she refused to let him avoid it. She wanted to know why he'd been in sickbay so often, why he'd gazed at her for many uncomfortable minutes, and why he was suddenly so protective of her, yet defensive at the same time. She knew that if he didn't answer her questions this subtle way, she would be willing to ask him more directly, even though she hoped inwardly that she didn't have to. It would most likely elevate the ever-present tension levels between them to possibly unimaginable levels. She certainly wasn't prepared for that, and knew that he wasn't either.  
  
"Whad'ya mean, T'Pol?" he asked, obviously rattled. "Ya know exactly what I've been done practically every minute over the past week! I've been with you!" he was more surprised than anything, but was also slightly agitated. About what she didn't know.  
  
She replied, her usual Vulcan calm holding even after his many emotional remarks. "That is incorrect, Commander. You have left on several occasions. First, you left me in my quarters several times. Then we left each other in the corridor." he winced slightly at this remark, though he tried to hide it. "And you told me yourself that you have reported for duty at the regular time each day, only coming here after your shifts are complete."  
  
Obviously ready to protest, he pointed his finger angrily at her. But his face immediately changed into a relinquishing sigh and he dropped his hand back down. But instead of going back to hi lap where it had been. He used collected her right hand in his left, not daring use his right hand now. The Doctor had placed a brace over it a few hours after the mess hall talk.   
  
Trip placed his elbow on the edge of the bed, his hand still holding hers.  
  
"Alright," he said with a sigh at last. "Whad'ya wanna know?"  
  
"I've told you. I would like to know what you have done when I was… not present," she told him, not to even trying to free her hand as he expected her to.  
  
"Well, I don' know where t' start, but I guess…" he paused, not knowing exactly where she was coming from or why she was inquiring about his personal life. He stared off into a space, in a thoughtful daze again.  
  
"Commander!" she said for the second time.  
  
"Oh sorry. I was just thinking'. Ya know, so I know what t' say an' all…" 'An' so I can make sure I don't tell 'er everything like I would if I just started ramblin'. "Anyway, where was I… oh yeah. Well, I'll just start when ya ditched me in the corridor." At this, she decided that a more appropriate listening position would be helpful ao that she could watch him for subtle changes which could help explain his strange actions. Not to mention the reason for his holding of her hand. It didn't make sense to her, but somehow she appreciated it. She wasn't sure why.  
  
She tried to sit up. But realized that it was far too painful and laid back down. He noticed her trouble and decided to help her. "Here, maybe I can lift up the back of this thing so ya can sit up without it hurtin' so bad." At this idea, she gratefully nodded and he released her hand gently so that he could raise the back of the biobed enough for physical comfort. Once he had risen it about 45o upward, she indicated that he could stop and he went back to his seat.  
  
Once again, he grabbed her hand, although this time he was gazing at her again and she didn't know why. She only knew that, for some reason, she was staring back at him. She tried several times, unsuccessfully, to break their, but nothing worked.  
  
They just sat there, Trip not continuing his story, until they realized that nearly fifteen minutes had passed. Trip, suddenly unsure of himself, finally broke shared near-unblinking gaze. She expected him to also release her hand and walk out of the room based on his obvious level of embarrassment, but he didn't, to T'Pol's surprise. She certainly didn't mind his presence, even if she acted as though she did. Her acting fooled everyone, to her relief. Everyone, that is, except Trip. He knew that they were friends, and that they always helped each when the other was in trouble. And T'Pol was definitely in trouble now. 'He attempted to help me as a friend, yet I fought with him. I allowed my emotional control to falter and argued angrily with him,' she thought.  
  
"So," Trip said at last. "Where was I?"  
  
"In your story or your romantic advances?" Even as the words left her mouth, she could not believe that she'd just asked him that question. She'd let a possibly offensive attempt at humor slip out. Perhaps she was spending too much time with him. After all, he wasn't actually making advances, was he?  
  
Trip couldn't believe it either, as his face turned a distinct shade of red and he dropped her hand, backing away a few inches reflexively. "Well which would ya rather I continued?" he asked her playfully. Was he implying that he *had* been making romantic gestures? She couldn't be sure. He could, after all, be joking.  
  
Realizing not only her own stupidity, but his embarrassment as well, she quickly responded. "I apologize, Commander. I was not implying that you were actually--"  
  
His face reddened further, he stood up, and he walked away so that she couldn't see him. "Actually, you're right. I didn't notice 'til ya said somethin', but I was. So I'm the one who should be apologizin.' You had every right to accuse me of that. I guess I kinda deserve your criticism an' all. I mean, what kinda friend an' gentleman grabs a lady's hand an' starts starin' all googly-eyes at 'er like that. No one that I ever--"  
  
"Commander!" she scolded for what seemed like the hundredth time that day. "You claimed that you would stop rambling. However you are now doing it once again." Although her voice had an air of strict criticism, inwardly she was simply surprised at his complete and utter embarrassment about such a topic, not to mention his out-and-out confession. She was surprised that he would admit to such accidental accusations. She knew that he didn't actually have any romantic interest in her, nor did she in him. But humans, she'd found, tended to act on instinct and their subconscious-- even if consciously they would never act in the same manner. She'd concluded that he had been acting in that way several minutes earlier. Usually humans denied any action which they carried out when this occurred. However, Commander Tucker, one of the most defensive and irrational that she'd met, was now admitting to such things. The confusion was enough to make her head spin, and it nearly was.  
  
The Commander simply stood there and hung his head for what seemed like hours, but was only a few minutes. He wanted to look at everything but her and his face was still red from embarrassment and his hands where shaking from his nervousness.  
  
T'Pol sat there staring at him unblinking and said in a much softer tone than before, "Commander?" This startled Trip enough to knock him out of his daze.  
  
"Yeah," he said, appearing to find part of the floor very intriguing.  
  
"Would you like to talk about something else?"  
  
He looked overjoyed at this prospect, jogging back to his seat and plopping down.. "Sounds great. Whad'ya wanna talk about?"  
  
"Perhaps something that does not involve either of us, so as not to return to another… uncomfortable conservation."  
  
"That's the best idea I've heard all day," he said in relief. "How 'bout… uh… you know of any good singer?"  
  
"No."  
  
"How 'bout actors?"  
  
"No."  
  
"Artists?"  
  
"No." Trip sighed. This was going to be a long night.  
  
  
  
A/N2: I don't have anything to say… just R&R as always… thank you for reviewing so far BTW….. Oh, and just because I feel like making an official count, this story has a total of 103 reviews!!!! YAY!!!!! I know, that DOES NOT mean that this is the best story ever, but I DO appreciate how many people are reading this and enjoying it, even if it IS just the same people reviewing over and over again…. Thank you all!!!!!! 


	33. Chapter 32

A/N: yeah, that last chappy was a LOT long-winded… I am editing this chapter to be a tad faster paced… and SOOOOO sorry for taking so long on this chapter… I really have no excuse… but it's here now… so ENJOY!!!! Anyway… MAJOR sparks flying (in a good way) in this chappy. PLEASE R&R…   
  
  
Chapter 32  
  
He paused outside of the sickbay doors. He had told her that he would go with her back to her quarters, but after what had happened yesterday, did she still want him to? He didn't really know, so he figured that if she really didn't want him there, she would simply say as much. Therefore, he took a deep breath and walked through the doors to find T'Pol, wearing her Vulcan robes, on the edge of a biobed. Doctor Phlox was giving her one last scan, simultaneously drilling her with the "useful" information.  
  
"…And have someone around you at all times."  
  
"What if I'm sleeping?"  
  
"Then get someone to watch you. Otherwise you must return here at night. Either way, get at least nine hours of sleep each night."  
  
"Vulcans do require as much rest as most other species."  
  
"Ones with half-human triplets do," he corrected. "And make certain you eat at least four meals a day--"  
  
"Doct--" T'Pol tried, only to be cut off.  
  
"Don't give me that. You need to keep up your strength. Also, don't forget to drink plenty of water. And you may want to acquire a looser outfit in the next week or so. And don't forg--"  
  
Trip decided it was time to cut the Doctor off, for the sake of T'Pol's sanity. "So, how's it going? Ya ready t' go?" Trip interjected, stepping toward the Doctor and T'Pol.  
  
"Yes. Most definitely," T'Pol answered, a note of relief in her voice. "Thank you."  
  
Phlox opened his mouth to give more "advice", but he was cut off by Trip. "I'll take it from here, Doc." Trip took the hypospray that Phlox offered and attempted to lighten the mood. "I'll have 'er home by midnight."  
  
The Doctor didn't exactly understand this reference and just walked off to another part of sickbay. T'Pol, however, remained where she sat and was also confused.  
  
"Midnight, Commander? That is almost eight hours from now. How long do you plan on it taking to reach my quarters?"  
  
Trip only sighed and let out a small laugh. "It's a figure of speech T'Pol… it means…" he saw the still-confused look on her face. "Nevermind."  
  
"Very well, Commander. Now, if you would assist me, we can leave for my quarters."  
  
"Yeah." At this, he walked over to her, planning on easing her gently off the bed. He put his arm around her shoulders for support. As her feet reached the ground, however, she winced visibly at the pain. Trip could feel her become heavier as most of the strength was drained out of her in an attempt to suppress the pain. He tightened his hold as a result and they both adjusted their weight in order to provide the most comfort and balance for both parties.  
  
When T'Pol was as comfortable as she was going to get, she nodded to him and he began to walk slowly. Once T'Pol walked, she realized with one step that pressing on her right foot was out of the question and opted to lean into Trip further for support. Fortunately, he was strong enough to handle her and by the time they were out of sickbay, they'd come up with a walking method that worked effectively.  
  
As slowly as they were walking, it took more than two minutes just to reach the turbolift, and Trip was surprised that no crewmembers had passed them yet. They walked in silence, still attempting to keep in synch with one another as they entered the turbolift.  
  
"Commander?" T'Pol asked once inside.  
  
For the first time since leaving sickbay, he lifted his head. "Yeah?" he asked back as the lift began to move.  
  
"I lied to you."  
  
"What?" he asked in confusion, automatically halting the turbolift for fear of anyone else hearing what she had to say. "What are you talkin' about?"  
  
"I lied," she stated again, pain obvious in her slightly weak and shaky voice.  
  
"What? When? I don' know what your talkin' about. When did ya lie t' me?"  
  
"In sickbay," she told him. "Several days ago… Do you recall when I injured your hand?"  
  
"How could I forget? Doc's got me wearin' this… thing on it for more than a week. Ya broke two of my bones, ya know." As he spoke, he lifted his hand to display the brace over his hand and wrist.  
  
She nodded slowly. "I am aware of that, Commander. You have informed me of your… misfortune at least six times since the incident."  
  
"Well now ya've heard it seven times. Anyway, you were sayin' somethin'."  
  
"Yes," she hesitated. "When I injured you, I most likely appeared to be… distant for several moments. Correct?"  
  
"Yeah… ya just stared off inta space for a few seconds, but then ya came back t' the real world again."  
  
"I then told you that I was… uninjured."  
  
"Yeah, ya said everything was fine," he agreed. Then he thought he realized where this was going. "Are ya sayin' that ya lied about bein' okay?"  
  
"No," she said to him in a tone that told him she thought h was crazy. "However," she added, "I did lie at that point. I said that nothin had happened… that it was only pain… I lied."  
  
Trip finally caught on. "So?" He asked. "What DID happen?"  
  
"I believe I experienced a… flashback, and I believe it was from the away mission. However, it was different from the scenes you described."  
  
She paused, but he silently urged her to continue. She was hesitant to continue but knew that she would never hear the end of it if she stopped there. "I was acting… abnormally."  
  
He waited for more, but he decided to prompt her when it didn't come. "And…"  
  
"I was shouting. It was dark… I couldn't see anything. I was… disoriented, and someone was restraining me." This had obviously been an unsettling experience for her, and she sounded a lot like he had when describing his own flashback to the Captain.  
  
"T'Pol… what else did ya see? I told ya what I saw, now it's your turn."  
  
Obviously not wishing to lie to him, she cautiously continued. "You were there, and-"  
  
"I thought ya said it was dark in there. How d'ya know I was there? Did I say somethin'? Did I-?"  
  
"No."  
  
"Then what happened?" He asked, becoming increasingly agitated. She, of course, hesitated again. "Come on, T'Pol. We're the only two people in here, and you can tell me anything. I won't go shouting all you're secrets over the ship-wide comm system."  
  
"As he said this, she relaxed gradually, returning to her usual fearless, Vulcan self. She nodded and he looked at her, making sure that she knew he was listening. "I was… I was shouting," she blurted.  
  
"Ya said that. What's this got t' do with me?"  
  
"I shouted… for you… or to you. I'm not sure," she finished at last.  
  
He didn't look too shocked, but was a bit surprised that she had hesitated at something this insignificant. He knew there had to be more, as she would never hesitate at something so small. "Wait… wait a minute. First of all, what did ya say exactly?"  
  
"I… called for help."  
  
"Help?" 'She hesitated that much over calling for help?'  
  
"Yes… help."  
  
"Why didn't ya wanna tell me that?"  
  
"I don't usually… scream for helping that manner."  
  
"True… so, what *exactly* did ya say?"  
  
She looked uncomfortable at the prospect of acting, although in his opinion she'd gotten pretty good at it. "I said, 'Commander, help me.'"  
  
"See, that wasn't so bad, now was it?" He asked teasingly. Instead of a response, he just got a fairly angry-looking raised eyebrow. He shrugged it off as a typical Vulcan response. "So, ya screamed that?"  
  
'Yes."  
  
"Ya sure it was a flashback? And ya sure ya got the right commander? Y know, there's lots of commanders out there…"  
  
Yes, I'm sure it was you, and if it wasn't a flashback, what do you propose it is?" She gave him the raised eyebrow again.  
  
He thought for a minute. "Okay, so I don't know."  
  
She looked distressed again. "Then do you not agree that this must be a flashback similar to the ones you described?"  
  
He just stood there in silence for a moment. Not wanting to answer, he opted to resume the turbolift and finish walking to her quarters in silence. His plan worked and the turbolift soon opened on B-deck. "Well," he said, breaking the silence. "We're here. Let's go." It wasn't until they were starting to move that he realized he hadn't needed his arm around her in the turbolift. 'Oh well. Long as she doesn't mind.'  
  
They started down the corridor at what seemed to Trip like a snail pace. He knew it was necessary, as any higher speeds would hurt T'Pol. She probably wouldn't make it to her quarters, even with his assistance. But despite that, he still wished they could move just a little faster.  
  
But, for her, he kept walking with baby steps while watching his feet to avoid tripping her at all costs. He stopped short, however, when he heard something coming down the corridor. He looked up just in time to see three crewmen running down the corridor toward them. When he realized they were probably late for a duty shift and weren't going to slow down, he quickly pulled T'Pol to the wall and grabbed her by the waist to hold her steady as the crewmen went running by them, blowing a gust of air in Trip's face.  
  
When the three men were out of sight, Trip's focus went back to T'Pol, who was trying unsuccessfully to conceal the pain she was experiencing from the sudden, quick movement. She was extremely heavy in his arms and she had become fairly limp, making it even more clear that she was in pain. Her right hand was on his left arm and her left hand was gripping his right side. Her long nails were digging into his skin at both locations, and she didn't appear to be in any rush to let go.  
  
"T'Pol? Ya okay?" He asked gently, already knowing what the answer would be.  
  
"No. You… moved… too fast," she managed through clenched teeth.  
  
"Sorry," he apologized sincerely. "But if those guy's hit ya, it woulda hurt even worse." She managed to lift her head so that she could look at him, but she could only hold it up long enough to see the honesty with which he spoke and offer a raised eyebrow with an acknowledging nod. He nodded in return before continuing. "Now… Doc gave me a hypospray for ya in case something like this happened. So if you can let go and grab it outta my pocket, you can use it." She nodded again, and he tightened his grip as she released his shoulder and looked around for a minute. "Oh, sorry," he said, realizing her problem. "That one," he continued, pointing to his right shoulder pocket with his chin."  
  
Once she knew where the hypospray was, she wasted no time getting it out and using it successfully. At first, nothing seemed to change. But after a few moments, she strengthened considerably and he could relax his grip significantly. It wasn't until she looked up at him with a nod and with most of the pain gone from her face that he spoke again. "You okay now?" he asked her.  
  
"Yes," she replied frankly, nodding more strongly than she had earlier. "Thank you."  
  
"Welcome. Not mad at me, are ya?"  
  
She looked at him strangely. "No. You were trying to protect me. You didn't intend to cause me pain."  
  
Still not completely reassured but feeling a little better about what he'd done, he found himself able to look her in the face. He looked down to find her looking up at him as well, and almost all of the pain was gone from her expression. He was relieved in many ways, but mostly because seeing his friends, especially T'Pol, in pain was never easy and always managed to get him a little down. Not that he'd ever reveal this to anyone--he came off as an optimistic guy and intended to keep that reputation--but it was the truth, especially with his close friends.  
  
And T'Pol was certainly a friend, a very close friend in fact. He wouldn't hold any other friend the way he was holding her at that moment and certainly wouldn't look at just anyone that way. 'What the hell am I doin'? And what the hell am I thinking'?' he asked himself all of a sudden. 'I've never thought this before… but then, I've never been in this situation with 'er before--hey, what the hell am I doin' now?! What if--nah, that can't be true. The Cap'n was making it all up… or maybe he was just seein' things that I was too stupid t' notice. But, no… that was impossible. I don't like 'er. I mean, I do, but it's not like that… we're friends, that's all. And that's how it's gonna stay.'   
  
As his internal conflict raged on, he didn't pay much attention to what he was doing on the outside. He continued to stare, unblinking and unflinching, at T'Pol, only reinforcing one side of his mind's argument. But it wasn't until T'Pol moved, albeit ever so slightly, that he realized what he was doing. And it was then that his internal argument ended. 'Oh my God… well, I'll be damned! Maybe the Cap'n wasn't makin' it up…maybe he was right an' I was just too stupid an' too damn stubborn t' notice. Damn… an' I yelled at 'im for it, too. How come I always do that?'   
  
He continued to gaze at her for a solid minute, expecting her to move at any moment. Then, he figured, he could just continue to her quarters, drop her off, and be able to clear his mind. Then he wouldn't have to worry. But it was when nothing happened that nervousness took over and he became increasingly uncomfortable. His mind started to wander again, his eyes still unmoving, and he started to think about various things--most of them involving T'Pol. His mind brought up memories, dreams, flashbacks… and he suddenly felt an uncontrollable urge to know everything about her. How old was she? How did she stay so damn skinny? What was her favorite dessert? He realized how much no one really knew about her, and he suddenly found himself drawn to her.  
  
It was confusing… he didn't know what was happening. Normally he would not do this. It was as if he couldn't control his own actions, and he didn't really even realize what he was doing. Before he even realized what was happening, he moved slowly toward her. For some reason, she was also unmoving. He couldn't really explain it, nor did he try. He didn't even realize much of anything for several moments, and when he finally did, he found his lips on hers. And even more surprisingly, he found that she was returning his kiss. Without even thinking, he kissed her again and again. And just about the time he was afraid that this would break out into something regrettable, footsteps could be heard around the corner.   
  
T'Pol apparently noticed as well, and by the time Crewman Jackson rounded the corner, they were standing side by side against the wall, T'Pol trying to hold herself up by gripping it and Trip with his hands behind his back.  
  
  
  
  
A/N2: so how d'ya like the first kiss scene (I've NEVER written one before, so please go ahead and tell me if it sucks, but be a little sympathetic por favor)… I know that two crewmembers running down the corridor isn't really realistic, but that's why it's a fanfic!!!! They're not SUPPOSED to be completely realistic… ok, I'm rationalizing now…. 


	34. Chapter 33

A/N: sorry.. No shippage in this chappy… But personally I think it's kinda funny (I can't take credit for this one though.. Bec wrote this whole scene… So on the other hand, if it sucks… which I don't think it does… you can also blame her)   
  
  
Chapter 33  
  
  
"I was walking down the corridor to the turbolift when… when I turned the corner and… And…" stuttered a very flustered Hoshi Sato. "I saw something I shouldn't have seen…" she trailed off.  
  
"What?" the Captain asked, getting impatient with his communications officer. Hoshi had called the Captain five minutes ago, saying that she had something urgent to tell him. But now that she was here, she couldn't seem to get it out. "Ensign." The Captain said sternly when she hesitated again.  
  
"Yes, sir," Hoshi said, regaining her composure. "I turned the corner and saw them…" she trailed off again as her palms began to sweat. She was indeed getting more nervous by the second.  
  
"Them? Them who?" he asked her, very frustrated by her nervous stumbling.  
  
She didn't want to get anyone into trouble, but she also knew her responsibility to tell the Captain. "Trip and T'Pol!" she spat, not even worrying about saying their ranks. She started to breathe more quickly, clearly nervous. What wasn't clear was why exactly she was nervous.   
  
The Captain was very bewildered. "So?" the Captain asked, ignoring his normal diplomatic responses and instead simply spitting out the first thing that came to his mind. He was truly confused as to way she was so nervous about this. Trip and T'Pol were together all the time. He toyed with the thought that Hoshi had been replaced by an alien imposter, but stopped himself before he could laugh or smile about it.  
  
"They were… or rather, he was… or… Maybe I shouldn't be here," she said, turning around to leave.  
  
"Hoshi!" The Captain said, loudly and sternly in a both questioning and commanding voice. "Just tell me! You can dart out of here as soon as you're done."  
  
"Captain, do I have to?"  
  
"Consider it an order."  
  
Hoshi sighed. She didn't want to do this. She hated doing things like this… things that betrayed her friends. But she knew this was the right thing to do. Or, at least, she hoped it was. "Well… I turned around the corner and…."  
  
"And?"  
  
"And I saw…"  
  
"Just spit it out, Ensign!"  
  
"He was kissing her!" she shouted before she could back down again.  
  
The Captain relaxed his face, not comprehending at first what the young woman had said, being simply relieved that she had finally finished what she had come to say. He couldn't quite figure out what she'd said at first, not to mention why she thought this was such an urgent matter. It wasn't until he sat back and thought for a moment that it suddenly dawned on him. He jumped out of his seat like a madman. "The Vulcans!" he shouted in shock. At this, Hoshi only nodded.  
  
"Can I go now, sir?" Hoshi asked impatiently.  
  
"Yes. You're dismissed," he told her absent-mindedly, not really focused on anything but his own thoughts now. He just sat there for a few minutes, trying to decide what to do. So many questions and hypothetical situations went over and over in his head. If the Vulcans found out about this, what would they do? What could he do?   
  
It wasn't for at least a half hour of thought and contemplation that he finally stood up and walked to the comm panel near the door. "Archer to Commander Tucker," he said, trying to hide the fear, anger, and disappointment in his voice.  
  
"What is it, Cap'n?" the younger man's voice said over the comm.  
  
"Get up to my ready room, Commander. Now!" he said sternly before immediately switching off the comm. He didn't want to hear the engineer's protests. He had to speak with Trip in person… no matter how much he was going to dislike the conversation.  
  
  
A/N2: ok.. This chappy was actually written before we wrote the last few chappys… sot eh writing quality isn't as good.. But I hope you enjoyed it… we felt like it wouldn't be ENT without a nervous Hoshi scene.. ::wink:: ;-).. Nah, we like Hoshi… she's redeemed herself (in Minefield)  
  
oh yeah.. also.. sorry about the short chappy.. i've been REALLY busy this week and this is all i have time to type this week... i was gonna type up another chappy but i don't have time this week... sorry... 


	35. Chapter 34

A/N: ok, this is an author's note saying there will be no more author's notes… not at the beginning of each chappy anyway…. I will still have them at bottom… thanks to zealousgirl for the suggestion  
  
  
Chapter 34  
  
  
"All I did was kiss 'er sir," Trip defended. "How was I supposed t' know someone was around the corner watching?"  
  
"Watching? It didn't matter whether someone was watching. You shouldn't have done it at all!" Captain Archer was trying to knock some common sense back into his friend, who had clearly lost all that he had.   
  
"Why not?"  
  
The Captain sighed in frustration. "I can't stress enough how important it is that the Vulcans don't find out anything about T'Pol's situation. And every time you do something stupid like this, it becomes every bit more likely that they will. Not to mention what would happen if word of this were to reach the High Command. They'd probably recall T'Pol from Enterprise once and for all. Without even giving it a second though. And the fact that you did all this in the first place lets me know that you don't want that to happen." He waited a moment to let what he'd said sink in. "Now… you're not to say a word about this. And if I find out you've done it again…"  
  
"Understood," Trip answered obediently, knowing full well that the Captain could indeed get him in trouble, either on the ship or with Starfleet, if he truly felt it was necessary.   
  
Archer nodded, knowing that Trip really did understand, at least for now. "Good," he finished, still in a serious, commanding tone. "Now… the Vulcans are suspicious enough already," he said, half to himself. "Where's T'Pol now?" He hoped he could find a way to keep this from the Vulcans.  
  
Trip, who had been staring at the floor submissively since telling the Captain that he understood his orders, jerked his head up at the realization that he was being asked a question. "Uh… her quarters still. I think… that's where we were when…" he started waving his hands in a 'you-know-what-I-mean' gesture. "…Well, ya know." It was clear that he was quite embarrassed now, based on the tone of voice with which he spoke and the gesturing he used.  
  
"Kissed her?" the Captain prodded, changing to a teasing tone at this chance to embarrass Trip with such things.  
  
"Kissed HER?" Trip asked in offense. "Hey! It's not like she had nothin' t' do with it!" he started defensively. "She didn't exactly push me away."  
  
"Oh?" he prompted, suddenly interested in what Trip had to say but also hoping he could finally get an explanation of what had really happened. He wanted to know what could have compelled his chief engineer and good friend to do it… he simply couldn't believe what had happened. But he assumed he would never truly know the answer to that question.  
  
"Whad'ya mean, 'oh'?" The Captain gave Trip his best 'you-know-exactly-what-I-mean' look and Trip returned his best 'yeah…but-that-doesn't-mean-I-wanna-answer-ya' look. Over the course of several minutes and at least thirty distinct looks from each, Trip finally and reluctantly gave up and the Captain triumphantly gave a final 'ok… now-it's-time-to-answer-me' look.  
  
Unfortunately, Archer may have won the battle, but he hadn't won the war. Trip wasn't willing to give up completely yet. "Why d' you wanna know? And what the hell makes ya think I'm gonna tell ya?"  
  
Captain Archer was taken aback by his friend's sudden change in attitude. "Trip!"  
  
"Cap'n! No one was supposed t' be there! No one was supposed t' find out about this! It was supposed t' be a secret!" He was shouting once again, just as he always did when he became angry or frustrated.  
  
"I could order you to tell me."  
  
Just when he began to think that Trip'd had more attitude changes in this conversation than were humanly possible, his friend's expression changed to one of sheer terror. That one threat alone had terrified the engineer beyond belief, at least for a short time. And although his face turned back to anger after only a few moments, it became clear to Archer that Trip was far more worried about this getting out than even his Captain was. Perhaps there was more going on than he'd thought.  
  
"Trip, if you don't tell me at least something, I'm going to have to make this an order." Trip was obviously acting as stubborn as could be and didn't plan on answering anything, even if his defiance got him a court-martial. Therefore, Archer was left with only one chance of ever getting an answer. "Fine, Trip. You don't want to say anything… you can go ahead and leave. Maybe T'Pol will be more forthcoming."  
  
"What?! No! Ya can't ask T'Pol!" Everyone knew that Trip had pretty loose lips, but he was nothing compared to T'Pol under orders. Trip began contemplating and the Captain waited a moment before inquiring. "Trip?"  
  
"Well, I'm not sure where t' start, Cap'n," he answered honestly.  
  
At this, Archer simply gave him a Vulcan-style raised eyebrow. "T'Pol would," he said mischievously.  
  
"Ok, ok!"  
  
"Careful, Trip. Don't want you hyperventilating before you get around to your answer."  
  
Despite the sarcasm in his statement, Trip calmed down immensely and settled into a chair. "Hope ya don't mind if I sit down."  
  
"No… not if you tell me what happened."  
  
Trip raised his hands in defeat. "Alright." He cleared his throat nervously before continuing. "Well…. You remember a few days ago when ya told me I had feelin's for T'Pol…. An' I wouldn't believe ya?" he paused until Archer nodded. "Well… let's just say ya… put the idea in my head…. And it didn't wanna leave." Trip fidgeted a little out of obvious nervousness, but Archer wouldn't let him stop there.  
  
"Oh no, you don't! I want to know EVERYTHING… Anything that may even POSSIBLY explain what the hell you were thinking!"  
  
Trip looked battered and worn down, which was exactly what Archer wanted at that moment, so he had nothing better to do than explain the whole thing. "Well yesterday, I was visiting 'er an' we were talkin'… an' then, outta the blue, she accuses me of makin' 'romantic advances.'" At this, the Captain's eyes got slightly larger and he tilted his head as he considered asking exactly how THAT had happened. "Then I admitted to it, which I think kinda surprised 'er, and we mutually decided t' talk about somethin' else… Then today she was ready t' go back to 'er quarters… t' tell 'er family what's goin' on… an' I offered t' go along… ya know, for moral support." Again, the Captain was humored, but now he was also slightly angered as well. "An', well… we were on our way back to 'er quarters when crewmen Curtis an' Fuerstenberg came runnin' around the corridor. I knew they weren't gonna slow down so I pulled 'er up against the wall… Then, t' make a long story short, I realized you were right all along… an'… well, the rest you know."   
  
The Captain simply sat there, blinking and putting his head down to hide the twinkle of humor in his eye. "Actually, Trip… Hoshi's description was… vague at best."  
  
Trip, who had lowered his head in guilt almost immediately upon the finishing of his tale, now shot a terrified and angry glare at his Captain. "Oh no, Cap'n! I'm not gonna--wait a minute… H-Ho-Hoshi? You were talkin' t' Hoshi?" Trip asked worriedly.  
  
"Yes, I was talking to Hoshi. Is there a problem?"  
  
"No! No problem…" Trip, of course, wasn't going to tell the Captain how he had taken T'Pol the rest of the way before kissing her again, only to be seen by Hoshi and running after her like a chicken with it's head cut off. "Except, after she left, I… well, I kinda panicked an'… left T'Pol there."  
  
"You left her ALONE?!" the Captain exclaimed in disbelief.  
  
"Well… I was gonna go in with 'er… t' talk to the Vulcans. But I panicked, Cap'n. I didn't know what t' do, so I just ran. Once I realized what I was doin', I ran back t' help T'Pol. But when I got there she was gone--probably in 'er quarters."  
  
"Ok, Trip…" The Captain said, putting his hand out to stop Trip's endless rambling. "So you went to see her?" The engineer nodded. "But she wouldn't let you in or talk to you?" Once again, he nodded.  
  
"I'm sorry, Cap'n. I guess I wasn't thinking'! But I tried t' talk to 'er afterward!" Trip shouted defensively.  
  
"I know, Trip," Archer assured him, trying to calm his friend down. "And there's nothing either of us can do to change what happened. But you made a bad decision, Trip. If the Vulcans find out…"  
  
All Trip could do was nod, showing that he understood.  
  
  
A/N2: hope you liked this chappy… Things will start to really heat up in just a few chapters… until then, feel free to speculate on what that means…. Anyway, sorry again for taking so long on this chapter… next one is fairly short so should be up soon… 


	36. Chapter 35

Chapter 35  
  
  
"Commander Tucker. Personal Log. May 22, 2153.  
  
It's my intention to recount the events that have lead t' T'Pol's leavin' Enterprise t'day. Hell, who am I kiddin'? This in't professional.  
  
Anyway… a week ago I made the stupidest decision of my life… I kissed a Vulcan… while 'er parents were here! Damn, that was stupid…  
  
Well, Hoshi saw me an' told the Cap'n. Then he told me what would happen if those damn Vulcans found out… an' he was right.  
  
'Bout two days later, everyone on the ship knew an' T'Pol wasn't talkin' t' me. I don' know if it was 'cause of the kiss or the Vulcans.  
  
But either way, she started talkin' t' me two days ago an' she said she was gonna tell her parents everything.  
  
Yes, that's right… everything. 'bout the away mission, 'bout the pregnancy, 'bout me… 'bout everything.  
  
I told 'er I'd go with 'er t' tell 'em… 'cause 'er side still hurts pretty bad an' she doesn't handle stress well whenever she's injured. But she told me that it 'wouldn't be necessary' an' told 'em 'erself.  
  
Well… that was yesterday an ' they're already takin' 'er off the ship t'day.  
  
They sure didn't take it well. They told the Cap'n that she was disgracing' Vulcan AND the High Command. An' Starfleet old me that I'm disgracing' them!  
  
At least the Cap'n convinced 'em t' let me stay here… T'Pol wasn't so lucky.  
  
Those damn Vulcans decided that humans were affectin' 'er in a bad way… especially me… an' decided t' cart 'er back t' Vulcan 'til they decide that she won't be 'negatively affected' by 'illogical humans' anymore.  
  
Who knows how the hell long that'll be… Hell, knowin' Vulcans, I'll prob'ly never see 'er again! I don' know what I'd do if that happened.  
  
I mean, I keep tellin' myself that this was the worse decision I've ever made… but why don' I regret it?   
  
An' I don' know if it was just me… but I coulda sworn she was kissin' me back…  
  
None of this makes any sense…  
  
Why d' they have t' take 'er away, Damnit!  
  
…They say the Vulcans can figure out who the father is… ya know, at first I woulda given anything t' find out that the Cap'n was the father… an' not me. But now, I don' know… maybe if I was the father, they'd let me see T'Pol again… I jus' don' know…  
  
Anyway, T'Pol's leavin' t'day… I don' know if I'm gonna say goodbye… It'd be a bit weird…  
  
Well, I've got two hours t' decide…  
  
End log."  
  
  
A/N: if it seemed like he was rambling and changing subject every few sentences, he was supposed to…at least toward the end… tis all for this time… next chapter may be a little while… just to warn ya ahead of time… 


	37. Chapter 36

Chapter 36  
  
Her head hung as an expression of depression and shame spread across her face and she refused to make eye contact. He never thought he would see this coming from any Vulcan, let alone T'Pol.  
  
He had observed a milder version of this reaction from her--several times, in fact. Each time had been after receiving orders to leave Enterprise or return home.  
  
But nothing equaled the emotions she'd been attempting to hide since arriving at the docking port. He couldn't be sure why. Perhaps due to the fact that her family had removed her this time, not the High Command… or maybe because absolutely no chance remained for her to stay. She would be leaving this time and nothing could change that. In any case, this situation differed in many ways from her past experiences, and only T'Pol could explain which detail was the main cause of her obvious pain.  
  
He wanted to help her, but he also knew how little he could do. He knew she would appreciate very little from him at this point anyway. In fact, very few members of the crew could offer her the support she needed. But the Vulcans had only allowed him, as the Captain, to attend, as regulations required him to officially remove her from his command. The rest of the crew was required to remain in either their rooms on their posts.  
  
He wished that more of his crew had been allowed to attend, if for no other reason than to even out the numbers. He stood in front of the docking port with T'Pol and seven seemingly-angry Vulcans, simply waiting for the inevitable departure of his friend and first officer.  
  
But everyone had been forced to simply wait. No one had been allowed to join him. This Vulcan "request" was, of course, the hardest on Trip, who felt responsible for T'Pol's predicament and wanted to apologize. Not to mention say goodbye. Instead, as Captain and friend, he'd locked Trip into his quarters. If he didn't, everyone knew what would happen, and it would not only hurt Trip, but T'Pol and Enterprise as well. Unfortunately, Trip had been uncooperative so Malcolm just slapped a couple extra locks on the outside of the door as if it were no big deal to lock up your superior officer.  
  
But this was a big deal. The Vulcans were making a diplomatic incident out of this. It was turning out exactly as he had feared. He'd hoped for the best of course… hoped that he was imagining impossible outcomes. But instead he'd been forced into this situation. He was losing his science officer and friend, Trip was locked away like a criminal and also in danger of losing his position, an ever-sinking diplomatic blunder was in progress, and worst of all, Trip had decided to fall for T'Pol at the worst possible place and time. And now the Vulcans knew that as well.  
  
Everything was going wrong at once. Everything bad was increasing exponentially into something even worse. Even T'Pol's mood was at an all-time low. She was staring blankly at the floor and looked about ready to cry… if that was even possible.  
  
A Vulcan speaking drew him out of his thoughts. "Captain?"  
  
He shook his head and looked up at the Vulcan addressing him. "Sorry. What do you need?"  
  
The Vulcans didn't look very happy at his sarcastic question. "You are required to formally relieve Sub-Commander T'Pol of her current assignment."  
  
The Vulcans certainly got right to the point. "Yes. I know." When he finally received a glance from T'Pol, he showed every apology he could in one expression. He lifted a PADD then lowered it again as he found where to begin. "Sub-Commander T'Pol," he began officially, reading what was required. "It is my duty as Captain to officially relieve you of duty and back to the Vulcan High Command." Normally, Captain's would stop there, but he had other plans. "Also as Captain, I find it my place to apologize for all those crewmembers which weren't allowed to be here today." Before continuing, he caught a fairly evil glare from several of the Vulcans. "I know that as you leave today, we will not only be losing a science officer, but a friend. And I know many would like to say goodbye but can't today, so I think they deserve a goodbye in their place. So goodbye on behalf of the entire crew of Enterprise."  
  
From the looks on the Vulcans' faces it was obvious that they'd been expecting a short goodbye, not a speech. But this Captain offered his crew real goodbyes. And this particular goodbye was from several specific crewmembers, Trip in particular, who'd asked him to say goodbye for them. He hoped T'Pol would realize that, and she seemed to. The nod she gave showed her understanding.  
  
Also with the conclusion of his speech, the Vulcans started grouping around the airlock. The Captain knew this meant they were ready to leave, and he reluctantly walked over the controls. Just as reluctantly, he pushed a button and the large door moved aside, allowing the Vulcans to continue on their way, T'Pol dragging behind, apparently ashamed of walking through the airlock opening.  
  
"T'Pol!" he called to her as she started walking in.   
  
She turned around rather quickly, finally moving as he was used to seeing her. "Yes, Captain?"  
  
He walked up to her and held out his hand. She took it immediately, their friendly handshake a symbol to her that the Enterprise crew would do everything in their power to help her. After a few moments, he wordlessly stepped back, allowing her to continue.  
  
As he stood silently, the door slid slowly back into place and he hoped, more than he'd ever hoped for anything before, that his friend would return. He also knew that, behind all those locks and doors, his very best friend was devastated. And he didn't like it when his friends were devastated…   
  
  
  
A/N: ok, sorry that took WAY TOO long, but I warned you it would be a while…. I do have one non story-related comment… I'm grateful to the person who defended my maturity level (a long time ago), but I would appreciate it if you would email one another if you want to say stuff like that… you don't need to make it into a review… Thanks! 


	38. Chapter 37

Chapter 37  
  
"I remember that..."   
  
"Ya do?" Suddenly, he felt himself fill with anger. Why had he just told this man everything if he already knew it?  
  
"Yeah... Well, it was hard to miss..." This didn't help at all.   
  
"Well if ya knew already, why are ya askin' me about it?!" he asked, anger creeping into his voice, accompanying the sadness he had felt since that awful day, since she had been taken from his life, without so much as a goodbye.  
  
"Well, no one really knew that much. Sure, we all talked about it, but everything was just speculation. We all had no idea what had been happening, and then the Captain never said anything either..." The younger man tried to calm him, knowing he would get nowhere fast with his friend in an angrily charged exasperated state.  
  
"Oh..." Trip really didn't know what to say to that. He felt his anger being released, and he thought for a moment, trying to conceal his emotions. He figured that he should have assumed that much. He knew he hadn't told anyone, but he didn't know how much the Captain had said, especially to the junior officers. But in any case, people would now know, and he would only have to tell Travis. And telling him, Trip noticed, was beginning to ease his pain. Unfortunately, it wasn't enough. He still knew that no one could truly understand. No matter how many tiny details he told or how many people he talked to, it would never be enough. Sure, they might pretend to, but they could never truly help him, nor could they ever bring her back. She was the only one that would ever truly understand him, and the only one who could relieve him of the pain in its entirety.  
  
"So..." Clearly Travis had no idea what to say either.  
  
Trip sighed realizing that silence was getting them nowhere. "So, Travis, was that all, or..."  
  
Travis realized that he'd been sitting quietly for far too long, and also that he had overstayed his welcome, especially by Trip's tone of voice.   
  
Travis shook his head and stood up, "It's okay, that's really it, unless there was something else you wanted to tell me, but I think I'd better go now..." he said almost muttering to himself. He started toward the door.  
  
"No, wait!" Trip realized that he had no real reason to fill this man in on anything else, but he did know that he needed him for something.  
  
Travis paused in front of the door and turned around, "I don't want to impose," He began but was stopped by Trip holding up a hand.  
  
"What is it, sir?" Travis asked, a combination of confusion and obedience in his voice.  
  
Trip stood up slowly and walked over to his friend and patted him on the arm. "Can, uh... can ya do something for me?" He asked sheepishly.  
  
Slightly surprised, Travis' expression brightened. "What do you need, sir?"  
  
For a moment, Trip stood in silence, internally debating whether he should continue. But in the end, he knew that he had to. It was for the best. "Travis, I need ya t' tell Cap'n Archer something. It's very important, do ya understand?"  
  
Travis nodded slowly, not entirely certain why HE had to tell the Captain something of such importance, but did not argue. "Well… what is it, sir?" Travis asked, somewhat impatiently.  
  
He knew that what he was about to say would be difficult, but he also knew how important it was that it be said. "Tell 'im that it's gonna be a while."  
  
Travis simply nodded his head and walked out the door, leaving Trip to breathe a huge sigh of relief in the dark silence of his quarters.  
  
The End….   
Or is it??  
  
A/N: no, no, no… don't worry, I have a sequel in the works (well in the works actually), but I REALLY had to get this story finished… sorry for the LONG wait and short chapter…. But now this one is done, and I'm off to wrack my brain thinking of a title for the next installment….. ACK….  
  
And while you are waiting for the next story, go to our fanfic contest at:   



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